Unity Center's funding is debated

The Alliance for Unity rejected a request Monday to divert funds for the Unity Center and put them toward removing the 900 South rail line. "We felt that we had raised money from donors for a Unity Center and we gave that money to the city in good faith," said Alexander Morrison, executive director of the Alliance for Unity. "We weren't about to go back on that deal and we were not interested in breaking that trust that the donors had in us."

In a letter written to Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson last week, Mike Harman of the Poplar Grove Community Council requested that a portion of $5 million raised for the Unity Center instead be used to fix the 900 South rail line that has caused congestion for years.

Although financing to remove the line is almost complete, Harman said about 10 percent of the funding is still needed. "Instead of removing the 900 South line, you raised $5 million, and in condescending fashion, provided our community with plans for a Unity Center," Harman wrote. "I might add, a Unity Center that has yet to materialize, a Unity Center that we never asked for, nor sought."