The relocation of two education centers and renovated malls are the centerpieces of a Church strategy to revitalize downtown Salt Lake City, it was announced by Presiding Bishop H. David Burton at a press conference Wednesday, Oct. 8, in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
"This city is at a defining moment in its history," he told representatives of the Church, media, government and business who were crowded into the building's lobby and mezzanine. "Issues that are now being debated within the city council and among the citizens of our community will chart the course of the economic health and vitality of downtown Salt Lake City for the next several decades. Those decisions will affect all of the citizens who live here. And so this morning, we want to spell out in the clearest possible terms our profound and irrevocable commitment to the health and well being of this city, for the benefit of all of its people, not just those of our faith."
Bishop Burton gave assurance that the Church is willing to invest heavily in the area. That investment would come not only through improving the retail establishments, but also by relocating the BYU Salt Lake Center and LDS Business College to property it owns two blocks west of Temple Square.
Planning for the educational facilities on what is now a large parking lot would begin immediately, Bishop Burton said, while emphasizing that proposals for the two malls the Church owns were "future possibilities."
But he said the Church is prepared to put hundreds of millions of dollars into the project, stressing that the money would come through the Church's business entities.
"So there is no misunderstanding," he said, "I emphasize that none of that money comes from the tithing of faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is not how we use tithing funds."
The new education complex will be built on the blocks east of the Triad Center where the 2002 Winter Olympics Medals Plaza was located between 200 and 300 West, and North and South Temple. It will be a block northeast of the Gateway shopping/entertainment/residential district, which is located west of 400 West between 200 South and South Temple.
"This is a vital stretch of real estate that provides key linkage between the downtown malls at ZCMI-Crossroads, and the Gateway," Bishop Burton said. "We have felt for some time that South Temple can be one of the grand boulevards of our city. That cannot truly come to pass if it ends in two blocks of empty asphalt."
The move of the BYU center from Highland Drive in southeast Salt Lake City and LDS Business College from seven blocks east on South Temple will bring about 4,000 students closer to downtown, he said. They will benefit from a location served by TRAX trains and convenient freeway access.
"The people who use these educational facilities will add to the vitality and rejuvenation of the city," he said. "I cannot, today, give you a projected completion date for the new facilities or any additional details until we have completed more study. But I can say that planning for these educational facilities will begin immediately."
Then Bishop Burton discussed preliminary plans for the development of the blocks of longtime Church-owned ZCMI Center and the Crossroads Plaza, which was recently purchased by the Church.
Joining Bishop Burton in the presentation were Ron Pastore of real estate investment advisory firm AEW Capital Management and Bruce Heckman of The Taubman Company, a mall developer.
Speaking of the timetable, Bishop Burton mentioned assessments, planning and architectural support that will precede the actual work and said, "I suspect it will be at least mid-2004 before we see much change in the structures that are part of [the mall blocks]."
As for completion, he said, "We will take great pains in phasing the project to protect the interests of the current tenants of those two malls. This will probably take a little longer than straight demolition and reconstruction. We're thinking it could be in the range of three to four years to complete that process."
A presentation of plans for the mall blocks was made by Mr. Pastore as he showed conceptual drawings and a model.
He noted the prominence and importance of Temple Square to downtown. "It's an amazing place," he said. "Many other cities would love to have a Temple Square."
He also pointed out the history and other attractions of the city such as the Salt Palace convention center; the Delta Center, the sports arena home of the Utah Jazz NBA basketball team and a major concert venue; parks and theaters. "Yet different, they are all a part of a very important downtown dynamic."
But then he said, "It's not a matter of how many attractions you have, it's a matter of how people interact with them," whether they be residents, those who work downtown or visitors.
As for the mall blocks, he said the current window-starved facades (the west side of the Crossroads Plaza is a parking garage) act as barriers.
The new plans call for boldly emphasizing the entrances to the malls. He said that as a Bostonian he has heard many people there who visited Salt Lake City say they didn't know there are two shopping centers across the street from Temple Square "because they don't see where the entrances are. They don't see the activity. Nothing, to them, says 'Come in, there's something inside.' "
The new glass-dominated facades and spacious interior design are intended to open up the malls so it will be easy to see what's inside.
The conceptual drawings and model showed how that could be done. First, the shopping areas would be two levels with spacious walkways between retail establishments. Mr. Pastore said that would open up the top, offer much more pedestrian space and provide more room for retailers to show their merchandise.
Glass ceilings above the shops, as Mr. Pastore noted, will not only open the malls up to the city, but to the environment as well. With the proposed design, when people walk through the malls they won't feel enclosed in a dark, foreboding, gloomy space, but will be able to see the mountains, and whether it's "rainy, cloudy, snowy, or whatever it is; be part of the environment within the city." They will also see 8-15 stores from wherever they are standing and will, for the most part, be able to see through the mall from one end to the other.
Plans call for the removal of much above-ground parking on the blocks, to be replaced with more underground parking. People need to have a vibrant experience downtown, Pastore said, and visible parking terraces don't add to that vibrancy. "Parking's not vibrant. I'm sorry. It's where your car sits while you're vibrant."
Residential expansion is proposed, Mr. Pastore said, on South Temple and West Temple where the Inn at Temple Square currently stands, and at 100 South and Main, built around the existing First Security Bank building.
The proposal also integrates the parking and access of existing office buildings on the two blocks as part of the flow-through vitality.
Bishop Burton followed up Mr. Pastore's presentation saying, "We hope the parking will be friendly and largely invisible. We hope that you recognize that the six office towers that are currently on those two blocks will remain as they currently are and that the retail segment of what is being done will be greatly enhanced in the way that Ron has so beautifully described."
Once the Church's project is completed, he said, the added pedestrian traffic of students, visitors to Temple Square and others who find their way down Main Street will not only revitalize two mall blocks but should also spur development further to the south.
E-mail: ghill@desnews.com