County officials are mum at this point about their proposal.

"We explored some ideas, but nothing was agreed upon and nothing was done," Workman said.

Similarly, Horiuchi said, "I totally always want to talk to the press," but "I promised no comment on this one."

Win-win-win?

There seem to be varying opinions as to whether Salt Palace expansion into a portion of Crossroads Plaza should be tied to Nordstrom staying in the city.

Anderson and Christensen agree that the two issues shouldn't be joined. Gardner and Boyer say tying Nordstrom to Salt Palace expansion is key to everybody getting what they want. The church gets a link to the convention center, Gateway gets Nordstrom and the city gets both.

"Anything that would create a win-win we want to do," Gardner said.

Gardner, Boyer and Bishop Burton have been talking about creating a win-win for a while now.

On Friday, all three telephoned Christensen and asked that the City Council put off the planned Oct. 14 vote for another two weeks. That vote will follow a public hearing Oct. 9. At issue is whether the council will change zoning and other rules at The Gateway that would allow Nordstrom to move there. Current zoning forbids department stores at The Gateway.

Delaying that vote would allow the LDS Church's First Presidency to focus all its post-General Conference attention on the issue, Gardner said. However on Monday, Gardner and Boyer, after talking with Nordstrom officials, changed their minds and telephoned Christensen to say they no longer wanted the two-week extension.

Nordstrom has said it needs to know by mid-October so it can begin planning for a new Gateway store that can be open by the time its Crossroads lease expires in 2005.

Christensen said the council is not likely to put off the vote. "It doesn't appear at this point that we will change that date," he said.

South Temple solution

An extra two weeks would be nice, Gardner confessed, because the LDS Church could further its plans to create a different win-win solution, separate from the county-led Salt Palace proposal.

That church solution could include accelerating church redevelopment plans that might better connect The Gateway with Main Street.

Bishop Burton has spoken with City Council members and Boyer Co. officials about the possibility of fast-tracking its 50-year plan for the two blocks the church owns along South Temple between Main Street and The Gateway. While the church wouldn't abandon its long-term plans for those blocks, it might develop the blocks as something else in the interim until that 50-year plan comes to pass.