Reader comments
Going underground LDS Church asks to buy land under streets
93 comments | Read story
Most major metropolitan areas "go vertical" with all kinds of things. I like thet fact that private capital is being used for this, because it means downtown development and revitalization is not coming at the taxpayer's expense.
I say go for it.
The LDS church's expenditure on welfare and charitable giving massively eclipes what they have spent on downtown revitalization. The Church can do these revitalizations because of it many business investments and income.
Because of the charitable opportunities afforded every member, the LDS church's programs for the needy, indigent, unemployed, and under-employed are vast and extremely active. They are under publicized and perhaps that is the reason you ask this question.
There is much critsism leveled at the LDS Church most of it is done in ignorance and the fact that it is an easy target.
I have been involved at a very "rubber meets the road" level with the charitable arm of the church and I am still amazed at how much is done to assist not only far away needs but the needs of the people right here in our own community. Many of our local assistance programs would be far less effective than they are without the support of the LDS Church.
Thanks for asking!
You may want to visit the Humanitarian center and Welfare Square to get a better picture of how much the Church does do for humanitarian good. This doesn't even count the amount of money the local wards contribute through fast offering and is used locally. Yes, they will present the doctrine of the Church in both of these places, but it is up to you what you do with this doctrine.
It seems that some of you would rather have monstrous parking structures, rather than the structures underground and easy access to these structures without closing down many streets.
Any of you who are taking the Church to task for this development will be hypocrites the day you set foot on the City Creek complex, now won't you?
PRETTY SMALL THINKING
That aside, this project seems like a great idea for SLC that they should be happy to jump on. A significant addition to underground parking in the city center financed by private funds. Sure there will be some construction snafus, but there always will be when one is concerned about the infrastructure. This looks like a good improvement all around to the downtown. It's hard to see any downside for the city other than those that come with any infrastructural improvements.
I've heard that somewhere before...could it have been the Olympics? With the buildings, roads, light rail....and afterwards we were in debt, with a few empty buildings to gawk at.
Let's just hope this doesn't happen again.
I'm rather happy they banned smoking...I can go somewhere and breath fresh...I can sit and relax and not worry about being bothered (as in pested by kids or panhandlers) I hope they do it to all downtown, it might actually get me to come back.
Then having a place to park - that just sweetens the deal.
Northz, I wonder if the 500M figure was only humanitarian efforts--stuff the LDS church sends out when there's a hurricane, earthquakes, and literacy/wells/healthcare assistance, since that amount doesn't seem large enough to even cover fast offerings, which go to individuals in local communities that are down on their luck, for food/rent/utilities etc.
Wake me when the Mormon Vatican is finished, sometime around 2010 when everybody in downtown has moved elsewhere, like beautiful downtown Murray.
Richard G. sorry, apparently you missed the bulletin. The LDS church has owned the ZCMI center mall for many a year before they added the crossroads mall to fix up. In all that time, they have never regulated it so that tender eyes or ears were not exposed to gum chewing, protesting, gay hand-holding, pamphleteering (by pro or anti LDS), tattoo displaying, talking too loud or any other behavior deemed offensive by the majority. No, they have only asked that their standards be observed on those properties that they deem sacred, namely properties that they use for actual worship and church administration. They do differentiate between ecclesiastical and commercial. But that has never been secret. They were very open in expressing their hope that others would respect their standards during the main street issue, and were willing to let the easement stand. But since people deliberately sought opportunity to cross those lines (I was with a wedding party as hecklers and protesters belittled, disrupted, and went out of their way to offend), the church understandably sought ways to contain the situation. So they bought a road between two city blocks. You may pass through it or stop and enjoy the serene beauty. They just ask that you show a little courtesy. You are free to pursue such behavior as you complain is curtailed anywhere else in the valley, including the church-owned malls and their median ramps.
Hopefully the facts you work with at your work are more accurate than what you are dispelling here......
Straight from a SLOC member:
"Kelner said up to 60 million dollars in public debt had been piled up in direct costs while "many millions" more were going towards infrastructure projects related to hosting the Games.
"They claim we've broken even," says Kelner of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. "But you very seldom see a full accounting of how much the public pays so a few private individuals can get wealth and prestige by putting on the Olympics."
---------------------------------------------------
even before the games:
"This is how the figures stack up: the Games will cost $1.5 billion to stage and SLOC is still $250 million short; the bribery scandal makes new sponsorship harder to come by and old sponsors are talking about jumping ship. There are four investigations into the scandal under way and if they were to uncover further misdemeanours - to verify the call-girls story, for instance - then SLOC would be finished.
Who pays the debt? The city council, probably mindful of the financial disaster that hit Montreal after the 1976 Olympics, once signed a contract indemnifying them from any debt. They are now told that this is unconstitutional, so it seems they pay."
--------------------------------------------------
Thanks Tia for pointing this out.
Add your comment
Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.
E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.
- David Archuleta's different mission 2:06 p.m.
- Fijian families take refuge in church 2:06 p.m.
- Parliament of World's Religions 2:06 p.m.
- Interior's approach defended 2:03 p.m.
- Small business insurance pool? 1:56 p.m.
- Business as usual for Tiger's in-laws 1:54 p.m.
- Artest offers Tiger encouragement 1:53 p.m.
- House passes defense bill 1:41 p.m.
- First of 30K troops begin to arrive 1:40 p.m.
- Stock hold steady on Fed report 1:39 p.m.
- Josh Powell meets with WVC police
- Will Chambers keep his promise?
- Star on field, in community
- BYU singers compete in 'Sing Off'
- Cougar seniors see a new Bronco
- Josh Powell provides DNA sample
- Boy shot in head during struggle dies
- Cougs brace for coaching changes
- Boozer plays at an All-Star level
- Jazz miss Harpring's toughness
- Jazz stunned by Timberwolves
114 - BYU to wear royal blue uniforms
108 - Josh Powell meets with WVC police
107 - Stay the course with our president
106 - TV mom gives birth to 19th child
105 - Sources: Josh Powell hires attorney
100 - Letters: Explaining Palin
99 - Choir, guests unwrap musical magic
88 - Letters: 'Liberal conceit'
87 - Tethering of pets could spur charges
83
These days, more than half of adults actually want gift cards, those...
Some forms of beauty are fleeting, fragile as life itself, gone in a...
David Rankin, one of Utah's youngest and ablest astrophotographers has...
its high school basketball... at any high school the players are gonna be...
"I don't need the police to protect me, I have never had to." James is a...
"... intelligence, character and hard work" I can think of three things...
Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 3: "To regulate commerce with foreign...
CJ had a rebound the other day,plus he dove after a loose ball once in grade...
@12:47, As citizens, we have given authority to EACH LEVEL of government...
'You don't know why you were discharged.' - 1:45 p.m. My discharge papers...
One good thing about the price of medical insurance going up every year after...
Bright tights are warm and fun, but in my view too bold and casual for the...
There's lots of salt and domes and such in Utah. The most famous eroded one...


