It's an exaggeration, but not by much: There was a lot of love in the room.
In an unqualified show of support for Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson's Library Square plan, the City Council approved the design for Library Commons and allocated $40,000 to keep the project moving toward completion next summer.
"I just want to thank the administration for taking this out to a public process," said Nancy Saxton, the mayor's frequent nemesis. "It turned out to be a real public process." The councilwoman has long criticized Anderson for charging ahead with his ideas without, to her mind, sincerely seeking input. But throughout a 90-minute discussion of Anderson's recommended Commons plan, Saxton's remarks were pure positive.
Hard to say whether Anderson felt the love where he's off trekking in Peru. But if he had been at City Hall Tuesday night, he would probably have used one of his favorite words: "astounding."
Five public meetings in June and July helped sculpt a Commons with a "crescent promenade" of shade trees, undulating grassy "waves," crushed- gravel paths and a "Great Lawn" a little like the one in New York City's Central Park. Scores of comments poured into the mayor's office, voicing support for a Library Square park "programmed" by the people, not by concert promoters. The spontaneous "programming" could include food carts, strolling musicians, children rolling down the sloping lawns, and poetry readings for small audiences. Most who commented weren't interested in a permanent band shell or a lot of formal events.
"People don't want economic development on Library Square," observed Councilwoman Jill Love. "They want a place to read a book in the shade." She likened the oak-canopied promenade, a wide walkway to curve across the Commons, to a "downtown arboretum."
Yet Library Square will never be finished, said Mark Johnson of Civitas, the Denver firm shepherding the construction process. "A public park is a framework," he said. It should be a "playful" space. By building it in the capital city's center, "the best thing we can do is open up imaginations," so park users can add to it over the years. Saxton suggested showing Civitas' design to groups of young people, so that in her words "some nice tweaks could happen." Children helped shape the new playground at Liberty Park, and now the place teems with kids and adults. Councilman Van Turner asked whether skateboarders would be allowed on Library Commons, and whether sandboxes might be put in for younger children from the surrounding neighborhood. That will be up to you, Johnson told him, adding that he thought it a good idea to include young people in future discussions.
D.J. Baxter, the mayor's senior adviser, will come back to the council next month to ask for $4 million more in Commons funding. Of that Olympics-generated money, $3.2 million would go toward construction and planting, and $500,000 could be placed in an endowment to help pay for about $80,000 per year of maintenance costs. The other $300,000 could build a first-class crosswalk and pedestrian refuge connecting the City-County Building block to Library Square.
Still other money may come from donors. While the council is leaning away from naming anything in the basic design after anybody, Baxter said private organizations could pay for added features, such as more fountains and public art. The Quest for the Gift of Life foundation has already expressed interest in placing on the Commons a monument to Utah's organ donors. To other organizations with ideas, Baxter says, "Bring it on, and let's look at the design.' "
E-mail: durbani@desnews.com