Mr. Mac in ZCMI Center moved about 150 yards from its old store in the same mall and plans to stay open throughout construction — whenever and wherever it may be, said Stuart Christensen, a co-owner of the downtown store.

"We said, 'When do we need to buy the hard hats?' and they just don't know or haven't expressed it to us," said Christensen, who also said that it's been difficult to watch store after store board up and move out. "We're part of this mall family, this community, and some of the long-term tenants have closed. It's tough to see them go."

The downtown tenants who do stick it out through the construction may get some help. The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce is proposing to split costs with the city for business assistance during construction. The chamber wants someone to monitor business access, marketing help, small-business loans and utility replacement, as well as parking and traffic.

"We want someone walking the streets looking after business interests," said Natalie Gochnour, spokeswoman for the chamber.

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