Council members also stressed the need for the church and Taubman to work with the city to relocate businesses that will be displaced by mall construction. The city has set aside funds to help with such moves.

"Some people will be displaced for some period of time," City Council chairman Dale Lambert said. "Those are people who we would like to keep on Main Street downtown."

Taubman was asked what projects he would like to see go in around the mall development and he mentioned the idea of a cultural block would fit well.

The church has owned ZCMI Center for years and purchased Crossroads Plaza in 2003. Later that year, it announced it would invest "hundreds of millions" of dollars into redeveloping the blocks where the two struggling malls sit. Much of the existing malls, and even the Inn on Temple Square, is expected to be razed to make way for the new mixed-use development.

As part of its investment in downtown, the church also bought the Triad Center in 2004. It plans to turn the building into a campus extension for Brigham Young University and its LDS Business College.

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E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com