Demolition work on the downtown Salt Lake City malls has spread to the ZCMI Center block, and as crews tear down the First Security Annex office building, business at the ZCMI mall is changing.
ZCMI Center and Crossroads Plaza, as well as several buildings on the two downtown blocks, are coming down to make way for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' planned City Creek Center, a mixed-use development set to open in 2011.
The ZCMI food court remains open and will for the foreseeable future, until a new food court is built nearby and opens at an unknown date, according to City Creek Center spokesman Dale Bills.
But today is the last day of any other retail at the mall. Deseret Book spokeswoman Gail Halladay said the store will close its doors today and will reopen Monday morning at its new location on the ground floor of the Zions Bank Building, an office tower on the same block. All other mall retailers have already closed or relocated.
All entrances to the ZCMI Center's underground parking structure will close Wednesday, and the sidewalk south of the mall on 100 South is closed already.
"Demolition, excavation and construction will require changes to parking and building access pathways," Bills said. "We appreciate everyone's patience as we rebuild these downtown blocks."
Demolition work began last fall on the Crossroads Plaza block with the Inn at Temple Square. Since then, Crossroads and its parking structure have also come down. One remaining building on the Crossroads block — the old Key Bank tower — is set for implosion Aug. 18, though Bills said that date could change depending on weather and other factors.
The implosion will occur early on a Saturday, and most of the surrounding blocks will be closed down. Bills said Property Reserve Inc., the LDS Church's real-estate arm, encourages people interested in watching the implosion to stay home and watch television coverage of it.
Live shots of work on City Creek Center can be viewed via a Web camera at deseretnews.com.
E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com