"The government's whole position is they did exactly what the 10th Circuit told them to do to cure the constitutional problem here. Our position is that they didn't," he said."Instead of the city completely relinquishing its interest in the property, it entered into a modified or revised arrangement that continues the status quo, or that perpetuates the situation that existed in Main Street I.

"The new arrangement essentially elevates form over substance. It is and always has been our argument that the plaza continues to function as a public forum."

Salt Lake City attorney Steven Allred declined to discuss details of the case going into Wednesday's hearing, aside from saying he will urge the 10th Circuit to uphold U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball's May 2004 decision that the property exchange did not violate the free expression clause of the U.S. Constitution.

"We think Judge Kimball had a well-reasoned and well-supported opinion, and we will try to convince the 10th Circuit of the wisdom of that decision," Allred said.

In court papers, the city maintains that it simply followed through on a solution offered by the 10th Circuit in the first Main Street case — to privatize all of the plaza, including the easement, in order to avoid constitutional problems. The city also asserts it had purely secular interests in mind when it entered into the arrangement.

"In fact, rather than favoring religion or a particular church, these considerations demonstrate the extent to which the city and its constituents, not religion and its adherents, were benefited by the settlement and relinquishment of the pedestrian easement," documents state.

However, Salt Lake City officials conceded for the first time last week that the Unity Center will not be finished on schedule.

In presenting the mayor's compromise to the public, city leaders often stressed their commitment to opening the center by January 2006, since that was what they promised the community.

But public services director Rick Graham said the center will not be open on time due to problems securing a few acres of privately owned land on the Unity Center campus, which includes the current Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center, near California Avenue and 900 West.

"At this point, regrettably, it appears that we are not going to be able to meet our original timetable," he said, adding that the new target date still remains sometime in 2006.

Contributing: Brady Snyder

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com