Salt Lake future taking shape

After a few months of planning, business and community leaders have crafted preliminary plans for what they would like to see in Salt Lake City in the next few decades.

The plan, the latest version of "Downtown Rising," is an effort by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Alliance. Those groups and other big names in the community — including The Boyer Co., The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Utah Department of Transportation — have compiled a list of ideas to take the capital through the middle of this century.

Among the ideas are plans to bring City Creek above ground and to create a parkway that stretches from the city center to the Jordan River. The Downtown Rising committee also wants to see a more attractive gateway to the city with boulevards, signage and clear directions for getting around. The group suggests one clearinghouse for parking, with public transit buses or trains to shuttle people between destinations.

"So many times in government, anything to do with growth and planning, you wait," said Lane Beattie, the chamber's president and chief executive officer.

The allure of Downtown Rising is advance planning — a sort of wish list from the city's business, government and religious leaders, said Palmer DePaulis, who was Salt Lake City's mayor from 1985 to 1991 and now serves as the executive director of the state's Department of Community and Culture. As the city awaits plans from the LDS Church about renovations to the downtown malls, the rest of the community can plan the next steps, DePaulis said.

"Now is the time to look right in the face of that project, to begin planning for the next generation of projects," DePaulis said. "It's so important to do it right now, before people start making their plans for the next 10 years."

The chamber is rolling out its plan Monday with a round of press conferences and appearances, including an insert in the Deseret Morning News detailing the plans. Over the next two months, the chamber will take suggestions from the public about improvements or additions to the preliminary plans.

The Downtown Rising board then plans to meet throughout November and December to come up with strategies for making those big ideas happen. The board expects to have another clear picture of the Downtown Rising plan sometime in January, said Natalie Gochnour, spokeswoman for the chamber.

Dell Loy Hansen, who has interests in several downtown skyscrapers through the Wasatch Properties group of companies, enjoyed his participation on the board because he said the "vision" of Downtown Rising will make the city more attractive to businesses.