Redoing downtown, bit by bit

Pardon the bromides, but we think patience is a virtue and that all things come to those who wait.

Some of Salt Lake City's gentry are wringing their hands about the plans for downtown Salt Lake City. They wish the LDS Church were more forthcoming. The empty malls leave them feeling eerie. And not knowing is grating on their nerves.

On the other hand, it's nice to see citizens so anxiously concerned about the city. So many downtowns across America have been abandoned to thugs and drugs. Iraq is safer than some of America's old "downtowns" after midnight. But Salt Lake City is determined to keep its city center from such a fate.

The latest cheery move is seeing the LDS Business College setting up digs at the Triad Center. Next year, the Salt Lake City campus of BYU will join the college there. The business college has 1,300 students. And since nothing says vitality like young people, the two schools almost guarantee that the hip and hip-hop outlets at the Gateway — and by extension, on Main Street — can expect brisk walk-in trade in the future. Bringing in the young people is a good move.

And it is simply the latest move.

In "Sunday in the Park With George," Stephen Sondheim wrote: "Bit by bit, putting it together."

In the musical, the song's about a work of art.

In Salt Lake City, it's about home.

Piece by piece, downtown will fall into place.

As for the LDS Church (which owns this newspaper) playing things close to the vest and taking its time to reveal plans for the renovation, we feel it signals an admirable soberness. The last thing the city needs is a slap-dash solution that simply papers over the problems or creates a trendy approach that falls from fashion before it's even completed. And a dated downtown is a dead downtown.

Again, we counsel patience. Humans are creatures of habit. Changing their routes, destinations and social sphere will take time and energy. But the two new schools setting up shop in the Triad Center show a commitment to big moves for the greater good that we're convinced will eventually lead to an animated vitality for the area.

The deliberate approach is a harbinger of good things to come.