Steven Allnatt, a spokesman for American Express, said that the company routinely vets community organizations for grants.

"We don't disclose the details or the decisions regarding each project," Allnatt said Thursday. "We consider this confidential information between us and the applicant."

A spokeswoman from U.S. Bank did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday and Thursday.

Graham mentioned several nay-saying community members by name in his e-mail, but one of those, Jay Ingleby, said that his only remaining objection to the center was the timing.

"The longer this goes on, the smaller the Unity Center we're going to end up with it seems like," said Ingleby, who in the past had griped about the price tag for taxpayers. "We're just saying, 'What's taking so long?' "

Some delays came from negotiating to buy two old houses near the 900 West and California Avenue intersection. Graham said that he expects to finish reviewing design plans by the end of next week and will issue a bid for construction in the second half of August. He expects construction to start by the end of September or early October.

"That doesn't seem to be coming out in anything," Graham said. "We have people saying, 'Yeah, we support it, we're anxious to get it done,' so we're doing it. Apparently there's a few people out there that have said otherwise, and some are listening to that, and they certainly can do that."

Graham pointed to a long trail of support for the project, including numerous public comment periods at the planning commission and community councils. Van Turner, the city councilman for the area, said he can't wait for the project to get started.

"This whole thing will work out to benefit everyone," Turner said. "They're going to love it, and the facility will be ideal for the neighborhood. It's a dream for us. We're right there on the doorstep now."

Graham said the city has a long list of people to contact for the tax-credit program.

"We had a number of investors that expressed interest in this project," Graham said. "We're still very, very confident that there will be an investor out there who won't be scared about the negativity that's been reported."

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Editor's Note: John Hughes, the editor of the Deseret Morning News, is a member of the Alliance for Unity's board.

E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com