A plea to save Deseret Building

While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has taken the first official step toward getting started on its large-scale downtown redevelopment project, a history advocacy group is calling on residents to oppose a part of the plan.

Late Friday, the church submitted its plans to city permit officials for City Creek Center, a two-block mixed-use project that will replace the city's dying downtown malls.

"I don't see any show-stoppers," director of building services and business licensing Orion Goff said of the plans. "I think November we'll start seeing some buildings coming down."

But one of those buildings slated for demolition is the historic Deseret National Bank Building, also known as the First Security building, at the corner of 100 South and Main Street.

Calling the building a "gem" of classical revival architecture, the Utah Heritage Foundation, in a written statement released Tuesday, said, "There is concern that integration of the Deseret National Bank Building into the overall plan has been dismissed without careful consideration."

The statement called for people to voice their opinions on the Downtown Rising Web site, www.downtownrising.com, and to the Salt Lake City Planning Commission at a public hearing on the project's master plan, scheduled for Oct. 25.

The group believes demolition would run counter to the 1995 Downtown Master Plan, which pushed for historic buildings to be preserved and integrated into new developments.

"A rehabilitated Deseret National Bank Building would serve as an excellent transition building between the new City Creek Center and historic Main Street," the statement said.

The city planning department must give preliminary approval to the plans before demolition permits can be granted for each building that will come down. Goff said Tuesday that in addition to submitting the overall plan, the church has also begun the demolition permit process for the Inn at Temple Square.

The Inn, also seen as a historic building whose demolition has raised some concern, is expected to be the first building demolished to make way for the project. The Utah Heritage Foundation has not made a statement regarding the Inn.

But Goff said historic considerations do not play into the granting of a demolition permit. Instead, his department looks at practical issues — such as whether utilities can be safely disconnected. The developer must also show it has plans for what will replace the building, as the church has done.

Neither the Inn nor the First Security building is registered with the city as a historic landmark.