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First Attempts
From 1941 until the middle of the cold war, Salt Lake City had made multiple attempts to install an effective siren system, often-times without complete success. In December of 1941, after being urged by the fire chief, county officials finally started work on the system, developing a highly-sophisticated loudspeaker system which played a fire engine sound. It was tested on the Walker Bank Building on 12/26/41, and did not perform nearly as well as anticipated. Shortly after, B.H. Decker was appointed to be in charge of the sirens, and on 01/02/42, further tests were completed by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Company, with a siren built by railroad employees using plans from a whistle used on The Leviathan. This test was done with steam.
Additional tests of whistles and other sirens were also held throughout the day by the Hygeia Ice Company, Union Pacific shops, patrol car sirens, and city fire sirens. The replica Leviathan whistle, alongside an additional small siren, were later tested on the 5th at the D&RGW Roper railroad yards, using compressed air, and at the Utah Light and Traction Company car barns, again using steam.
Success
During the December tests, the city purchased a large gasoline-powered Bullard siren for $600 ($12,061 in 2024). The siren arrived for testing in January of 1942, and was mounted to the city fire department service truck and tested at various spots in the city on the 31st. In February, the city declined to pay for the Bullard. The city later explored other options, testing a system of four whistles built by D&RGW on March 12th, again located at the D&RGW railroad shops at 500 W 400 S, and at the Union Pacific shops at 600 N 200 W, the Utah Power & Light Company steam generating plant at 100 N W Temple, and in the rear of the New Grand hotel. This test proved satisfactory, and air raid wardens were able to identify areas of the city that needed additional coverage. Air horns were tested to fill the gaps on March 23rd, but were unsatisfactory.
Six 5HP Bullards arrived on May 28th, purchased for $3000 ($58,086 in 2024). Installation began on June 5th and the system was ready for another test. At this point, 11 sirens were in place. Four steam whistles, a siren operated on natural gas, and six 5HP Bullard sirens. One was located at Irving School, while the rest were in unspecified locations on the east side. The full system was tested for the first time on June 13th, which was deemed "very satisfactory" by civil defense officials.
Dissolution
To the city's dismay, and on authority of the Army and Civil Defence Corps, starting April of 1943 the sirens began testing on the 1st and 15th of each month at 3PM. After being tested for the first time in almost a year, problems were reported by the Office of Civil Defense. More coverage gaps were found, and mechanical changes were needed on some sirens. They continued to run for bimonthly tests and drills until April 6th of 1944, when the city board ordered the sirens to be sold. The finalized price was set to $300 per siren ($5,410 in 2024). The first was sold to Tooele on 6/16, South Salt Lake VFD on 7/5, Preston Idaho on 12/4, and finally Fillmore on 1/11/1945. Commissioners decided to keep the last two.
A Second Try
On April 26th of 1951, Salt Lake City tested a civil defense siren for the first time in over 7 years. It was an 8 port Model 5 that was presumably donated/sold by the Navy, previously being used on a warship during WW2. Tested atop the public safety building, the siren was inaudible only a block away. On the 30th, sirens were installed in the city sewers, and tested within the following week. This was the only mention of such a system. In May, the siren was moved from the public safety building, to the Sears Roebuck department store on 754 S State Street. Similar results were found from a test on June 15th.
In February of 1952, three Model As were loaned to city Civil Defense by the American Smelting and Refining Company. On September 12th, a Thunderbolt 1000 was tested on top of the Walker Bank Building. Results were extremely satisfactory, with reports of it being heard as far as 2.75 miles away. Further tests were held in October, and it was determined that they would need six to cover the city. It is assumed that the city abandoned effort for a full system after this point.
A New Level
In February of 1953, city officials received a Chrysler air raid siren on loan. It was first tested on February 4th, located near Mount Olivet Cemetery. Coverage at schools was a particular concern for this test, and it was determined that at least six sirens would be needed for complete coverage of the city. Tests at thirteen different locations reaffirmed this assessment. The Director of SLCD recommended that the city purchase six Chryslers for $30,000 ($357,288 in 2024), which would be split with the federal government. They also recommended the city to purchase several small sirens to help improve coverage.
On Wednesday June 17th, a new "powerful" siren was installed to replace the Model 7 on the Sears Roebuck building, said to be "one of the most powerful sirens yet to be sounded in Salt Lake City." A drill was announced for the following Saturday, which not only was the Sears siren scheduled to participate in, but steam whistles, and 14 mobile sirens as well. Unfortunately, the use of sirens for the drill was cancelled the morning-of. Months later, the siren/whistle at the DRGW shops was reconditioned, and starting July 7th, would be tested along the Sears Roebuck siren on the first Monday of each month.
In May of 1954, a 3HP siren was placed on a building at the NW corner of 200 S Main St., and two air horns were installed on top of the Union Pacific Railroad Depot. The Director of SLCD once again recommended the city to purchase six Chrysler sirens for $16,000 ($187,720 in 2024). In August, a siren on the Union Pacific Building at 10 S Main St was reinstalled after being repaired.
Bureaucracy
In March of 1955, the city commission decided to purchase six sirens for $25,000, but a few hours later, rescinded the order and reopened the study. The sirens originally decided for purchase were not loud enough for the required six sites specified by SLCD's survey. The cost for the sirens they do need, Chryslers, would be $33,000. Even at the lower cost with the smaller sirens, the expense was still criticized by some in the city. The Federal Civil Defense Administration sent two warning system experts to Salt Lake for another sound study, and it was determined that the city needed two large sirens, two medium sized sirens, and two small sirens.
On April 8th, the city agreed to purchase twenty 3HP sirens from US Navy Surplus for $530 ($6,270 in 2024), which were to be mounted on schools in the city. The terms were objected by a city lawyer, saying they put the city at a disadvantage. Some 3HP sirens were installed throughout the city by late March, another at 200 S Main St., and on the Union Pacific Building at 10 S Main St. On June 15th, the city again agreed to purchase eighteen (additional?) sirens for the schools. It is not clear whether they were eventually installed on the schools.
Supernova
On November 11th of 1957, four sirens downtown were sounded to observe Veteran's Day. In August of 1958, the city finally installed fifteen of the eighteen sirens purchased in 1955. 3HP sirens were installed on the Crandall Building at 100 S Main, CD Headquarters at 165 E. Broadway, Utah Oil Building at 300 S. Main, Newhouse Hotel, Old Federal Reserve Building, Congress Hotel, Dinwoodey Furniture Co., United Fund Building, and at the Harver Building on 300 S, near Main. Later that month, forty more sirens were said to be due for install. On December 7th, the carillon on the First Security Bank Building was tested in "civil defense mode" for the first time, and March 31st of 1959, a GCS Model 3 was tested on top of the state capitol. Later tests were made using an amplifier, with the assistance of G. J. Schulmerich. These were some of the last mentions of the system made by the press, possibly marking the end of effort to complete a siren system for the city.
Past-Tense
A siren was supposedly moved to Standel Drive in 1984 to alert the neighborhood of avalanches, but it is unknown if this actually occurred. There were rumors of a Thunderbolt 1000 existing at the VA Hospital until the early 2000s, and a Thunderbolt was possibly captured in a photograph of the Salt Lake Airport. The airport also had a Sterling siren, likely removed during renovations in 1961.
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