Mall project shuts out Skool Lunch

For 25 years, Skool Lunch has fed downtown workers hungry for soups, sandwiches and salads. When the year ends, those workers will have to go somewhere else — and owner Merrill Hansen is not happy about it.

Posted next to the daily specials at the restaurant's South Temple location, in the base of Eagle Gate Tower, is this announcement: "After nearly 25 years on this block, we will no longer be doing business at this location after Dec. 31. Our leaving is not by choice, so please share your feelings and ideas for how we can continue to serve you."

The restaurant is closing because its lease with Property Reserve Inc., the real-estate arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is not being renewed. The church is embarking on City Creek Center, its massive makeover of the blocks now occupied by the Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center malls. The project will require demolition of most of those two blocks.

Hansen said he has known for at least a year-and-a-half that the mall project was coming and that it would probably mean some changes for his store.

When the lease ended in 2005, the restaurant was offered a month-to-month lease, but Hansen said PRI representatives "assured us we were a permanent part of the project, that we'd provided a great service to the tenants in the area and they wanted us to remain during the construction and after."

Then, on Oct. 13, Hansen received a notice that his lease would be terminated.

Dave Smith, spokesman for the City Creek Center project, issued a statement saying, "As part of the effort to reconstruct the downtown blocks that make up City Creek Center, existing retail-shop space will eventually be reduced by approximately 90 percent during construction. While extensive efforts have been made to accommodate current tenants, changes and displacement are inevitable."

He said Skool Lunch's closure is necessary because the space will become part of Eagle Gate Tower's new lobby.

Hansen said that shortly after his lease went month-to-month, PRI representatives told him his new spot in City Creek Center would be twice as big as the current location. In the meantime, PRI would find somewhere for the restaurant to relocate, he said he was told.

In May 2005, Hansen opened a new Skool Lunch location on 400 South and Main Street. He said that store was opened because he could foresee a big change coming to downtown, although he didn't know what it would be. He figured the new location would serve workers as office towers pop up farther south on Main Street.