Public safety complex near library is proposed

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker unveiled plans for a downtown "civic campus" Thursday, including a $125 million public safety complex east of the downtown library.

The plan calls for voter-approved bonding to pay for a three-story emergency operations center and a five-story public safety headquarters to replace the decaying building that currently houses the city's police and fire administrators.

But first, city officials will have to convince residents the price and place are right.

Officials said the complex could be built between 300 East and Blair Street, where the city is currently negotiating land purchases with three owners.

But the "preferred option," Becker said, is to build on Library Square.

As Councilman JT Martin said Thursday, "Let the debate begin."

Building on the east side of the library would save about $20 million, but city leaders expect an outcry over the idea of building on the beloved space.

When the plan was originally proposed, a reverence for the spot next to the award-winning library caused concern for the mayor and council members, too.

"My initial reaction was, 'You've got to be kidding me,' " said Becker, adding that the space around the library is of "paramount value and importance to this city."

Martin said he was also "skeptical" of the plan but now believes "it makes sense to have it on this block."

Architects have worked to ensure the new buildings do not obstruct views to and from the library, said Frank Gray, the city's community and economic development director.

"Anything we do here will work in combination with the iconic building," Gray said. "We need to make sure it … enhances that urban design."

And should the city build on Library Square, Becker said there would be "no net loss of open space."

"If we were to build here, we would re-create open space on the other side of 300 East," he said.

Planners see the space becoming a downtown piazza, with a pedestrian path running from the Matheson Courthouse on State Street to 300 East.

The proposed makeover of Library Square calls for a larger outdoor amphitheater, and the city has looked at the possibility of adding a large movie screen to the backside of the emergency operations center, Gray said.