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Substation Shell And Railroad Car 502

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

In the spring of 2010 Jimmy (Miklavcic) and I were gathering footage for a commissioned project from the Salt Lake Sister Cities organization for the TorinOver10 festival in Torino, Italy.

Torn Tracks

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

The project was called Salt Lake City in 90 Seconds where we designed and created a very short 90-second film exhibiting the flavors and the variety of Salt Lake City.

Concrete In Salt Grass

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

We were driving back into Salt Lake City, having shot footage of the Great Salt Lake down by the marina.

It Was Useful Once

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

We decided to take the North Temple frontage road next to Interstate 80 (also called the Lincoln Highway), when we saw this graffiti covered railway car and cinderblock building.

Salt Lake Garfield And Western Railroad Car 502

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

We pulled over to check it out and to film the interesting abandoned structures on the shore of the Great Salt Lake.

Arson, Entropy, Tagging And Time

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I took still photographs using my Pentax ist DL camera, my first digital SLR, while Jimmy videotaped.

Now It Has A Sun Roof

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Since it was early spring we had not anticipated needing bug spray, but as soon as we got out of our car, the gnats and brine flies attacked.

Railroad Car 502 And The Lake

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

By the time we were done shooting, my ears and the back of my neck were so bitten that I was swollen for a couple weeks afterwards.

Steel Wheels Would Still Work

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I understand that the Salt Lake Garfield and Western Railroad car #502 was loaded onto a salvage truck and hauled away for scrap on February 18, 2012.

Cinderblock Substation Shell

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Later in the Spring of 2012 the cinderblock shell of the substation was torn down.

A Strange Alignment

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

This site is completely cleaned up by the new property owner and the only remembrances of this place are the photographs and film created by the people who have ventured into the area to explore.

Toilet Trash In A Trash Filled Pond

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Learning this triggered memories of so many places I have occupied in my thirty-five years of living in Salt Lake City.

Wall Expressed Upon

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I moved to Salt Lake from Aptos, California to study modern dance at the University of Utah in 1979, which was one of the best dance departments in the United States.

A Face On The Blocks

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

The Ballif Hall dormitory building I lived in on campus from 1979-1980 was torn down to build state of the art athletic housing for the 2002 Winter Olympics. After the Olympics, this new housing development became the on-campus housing for University of Utah students.

Corner Stone

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Much earlier, in 1989, the old dance building, (which used to be the University gymnasium), where I studied to earn my BFA and MFA degrees was torn down after construction was completed on the brilliant and beautiful Alice Sheets Marriott Center for Dance.

Outside To Inside

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I look at these photographs and I am struck by a much more personal tearing down that occurred June 26, 2013 at 8:30am, when Jimmy (who holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science) and I were let go from our jobs at the University of Utah Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) on the same day.

Lake Portal

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

A ten-minute, cold meeting, where three people in the room told me that my position had been eliminated.

Outdoor Living

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

A little later Jimmy was told the same thing.

Stories Told Round The Campfire

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Three other CHPC staff employees were also let go that day.

We Could Dance In Here

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

"Not for any reason specifically," we were told, “but due to budget constraints, because research funding was down” (due to the Sequester).

Someone Sleeps Here

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I had worked at CHPC for thirteen years.

Rubble Canvas

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Jimmy had worked at the University for 25 years. Ironically, just a few months earlier, he had received a 25-year certificate and congratulations for his achievement of service to the University from the University of Utah President.

Wasatch Key Hole

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Talk about a personal ghost town.

A Face In The Rubble

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I cleaned out my office, put my personal items in boxes and began extracting myself from CHPC. Finally, I walked out the door and never returned to the place I once occupied, where I spent so much of my time and energy.

Petroglyphs

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

That is what being let go was like for me.

Six Tilted Rectangles

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

There are so many correlations between being laid off and walking through an abandoned place, where it is obvious that so many dreams have died.

The Pole Speaks

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

The lives that these people hoped for did not come to fruition.

Pole Portrait

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Maybe they did for a while, but some kind of change, whether environmental or technological, began the domino effect that caused the death of their dreams.

The Pressure Of Being A Saint

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

What they once hoped for in their lives dried up and blew away.

Saintly Surroundings

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

We have heard of so many people, friends and contemporaries in their fifties and sixties, experiencing what we recently experienced. Being laid off for whatever reason.

Pieces Of A Water Park

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I think we, as a society, need to begin talking about this openly. It is hard because of the stigma and embarrassment of being laid off.

Missing Travelers

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

The nagging thought that there must be something wrong, some unspecified reason, other then the fact that we got older and were experienced enough to earn a decent salary.

Water By Pieces Of A Water Park

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Here is a news flash - EVERYONE IS GOING TO AGE!

Abandoned But Decorated

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

So get ready, because unless something fundamental begins to change in our society, we are going to have a real problem.

Cameraman

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Not that we already don’t.

He’s Filming

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I observed this happening to people when I was younger and I knew this would never happen to me!

Gold And Red

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

We are selling young people on the idea of going to college to earn their degrees, which will get them a "good job."

What Happened To The Outside World?

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Warning!

Do You Want To Live 4 Ever?

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

You had better get your whole act together before you’re fifty!

Her Beautiful Eyes

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Have children and get them through college, weddings and whatever paid for, your mortgage paid off, all your debt eliminated, and your retirement in place. If you aren’t prepared and the ax falls, there is nothing and no one out there who can save you.

The Great Salt Lake Landscape

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Changing circumstances can create broken people, just as we have broken structures and places dotted throughout our environment.

Two Birds And Antelope Island

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

As I write this story, on September 9, 2014, Jimmy and I are currently facing the possible loss of all that we’ve spent our adult lives building.

A Box And A Railway Car

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

This has been a real lesson in priorities and of letting go.

Light Streams In

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I can’t help but wonder how many people, in so many different circumstances throughout history, have faced the same thing.

A Part Of The Landscape

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Why does history keep repeating itself?

Ties In The Sand

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I think this is a fascinating question, which comes to mind when I explore a ghost town.

Fallen Door Frame

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I walk through this abandoned place and imagine what it was once like.

Lattice Ceiling

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I want to learn what changed to shift a once thriving area to remnants.

She Wanted A Window Seat

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

I see the artistic ghosts of graffiti artists who leave their expressive voices in paint, only to be covered up by another voice and yet another voice. Even the art is transient.

Step Up

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Here entropy reigns, and nature slowly but surely reclaims its dominance over all human made things.

A View Of Newer Transportation

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

Nothing remains of this abandoned railway site except the beautiful, surrealistic landscape of the Great Salt Lake.

The Dedication

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

All things come and go.

"Rest In Power"

by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC

As it should be.