Great Salt Lake Amusement Co. v. Lagoon Amusement Co.
| Decision Date | 12 December 1930 |
| Docket Number | 4971 |
| Citation | 294 P. 301,77 Utah 287 |
| Court | Utah Supreme Court |
| Parties | GREAT SALT LAKE AMUSEMENT CO. v. LAGOON AMUSEMENT CO |
Appeal from District Court, Third District, Salt Lake County; D. W Moffat, Judge.
Action by the Great Salt Lake Amusement Company against the Lagoon Amusement Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals.
REVERSED AND REMANDED, with directions.
Irvine Skeen & Thurman, of Salt Lake City for appellant.
Kelly & Schiller, of Salt Lake City, for respondent.
This is an action brought by the Great Salt Lake Amusement Company for the conversion of its personal property by the Lagoon Amusement Company. Judgment was for the plaintiff in the sum of $ 967.74 and costs. The defendant appeals. Appellant seeks a reversal of the judgment because, as claimed by it, there is no evidence to support a judgment against it in excess of $ 214.77.
The evidence establishes without conflict these facts: During the year 1925 and for a number of years prior thereto the Lagoon Resort, located in Davis county, Utah, was owned by Lagoon Resort Company, a corporation of the state of Wyoming. In 1917 the Lagoon Resort Company leased, for a term extending to January 1, 1928, the Lagoon Resort to the Amusement Concession Company. In the spring of 1925 the Amusement Concession Company subleased to the plaintiff, until the close of the resort season of 1927, one of the buildings located at the Lagoon Resort. Soon after the lease was executed, the plaintiff installed in the leased building a concession known as Dinty Moore. The plaintiff expended for labor and material in the construction of the Dinty Moore the sum of approximately $ 1,288. Two of the officers of the plaintiff company directed the work of constructing the concession. They testified that their labor in so directing the work was of the reasonable value of $ 1,100. When completed, the Dinty Moore consisted of the following: A grotesque face through the mouth of which the patrons entered, an entrance hallway, two barrooms, a middle hallway, and an exit hallway. The face was in relief on the outside of the building. It was built over a wooden frame and made up of plaster reinforced with chicken wire and some metal lath. The three halls were constructed over a framework of 2x4's and 2x2's covered on the sides with compo or cornell board and open at the top. The two barrooms were identical. Each was 18x20 feet. The floors and sides of the barrooms were built of lumber, and the ceilings of compo or cornell board. The entire building was constructed in sections so as to permit of removal without tearing the various sections apart. In each barroom there was a back and front bar, two mirrors, and two electric light shades. The building was wired for electric lights and contained about 85 electric light globes. It also contained a Klaxon horn and some bottles. The concession was operated by plaintiff during the resort seasons of 1925, 1926, and 1927. At the close of the resort season of 1927, padlocks were placed on the doors of the concession. The bars, mirrors, electric light globes, etc., were left in the building. During the fall of 1927 the lease of the Lagoon Resort held by the Amusement Concession Company was terminated by agreement. In the agreement terminating the lease the Amusement Concession Company transferred to the Lagoon Resort Company all of the buildings and concessions theretofore owned and operated by the Amusement Concession Company. During the month of January, 1928, the Lagoon Resort Company dismantled the Dinty Moore concession and moved most of the material to a nearby building known as the fun house. In the process of dismantling the Dinty Moore concession or before that time, the grotesque face was destroyed. The record is silent as to what became of the electric light globes, the Klaxon horn, and the bottles. The mirrors, bars, and the electric light shades which had theretofore been used in the Dinty Moore were also removed to the fun house. On February 23, 1928, the defendant corporation was organized, and about the same time the Lagoon Resort Company was organized under the laws of the state of Utah. The Lagoon Resort Company of Wyoming transferred to the Utah corporation of the same name the Lagoon Resort. Thereafter the Lagoon Resort Company of Utah leased the Lagoon resort to the defendant in this action.
On or about March 1, 1928, the defendant began to repair and remodel the fun house...
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