Comments about ‘Bishop Burton extols quality of City Creek Center’

Sorry folks, but with the building of the Gateway, downtown SLCity is a pathetic momument to know it all urban "experts" who ruined a once vibrant commercial district. The LDS church, Xroads Plaza owners and the rest of the Downtown Alliance should have screemed murder at Mayor Coradini and her tax incentive subsidized building of the Gateway! Didn't anybody remember how the 2 uptown malls killed the Broadway & Main Street retail districts in the 1980's? Now almost 30 years later Gateway has done the same thing.

It is very romantic to think that keeping things the same will save an area from being self-destroyed. Preservation has its place when considering unique structures. I hardly think Key Bank building or the like qualifies as preservation worthy. SLC had to be protected from urban blight. Pouring billions into our city center now will keep it from becoming another crummy old flop district.

SLC is going to have a great skyline now, with those two gaping holes where Crossroads and ZCMI used to be. Now downtown is going to be no different from every other city in the nation. Thanks! What's next - turning the Beehive House into a boutique hotel?? i am a faithful LDS member, but I'm not thrilled with what I percieve that they're doing to downtown.

SLCGal, you do realize that they're planning to put something in their place, right? How would adding a new, modern, billion-dollar complex in the middle of the city make Salt Lake look like every other city in the nation? If anything, it distinguishes it from every other city. I just don't understand how some people are so opposed to progress.

I'm not from the Salt Lake area. I'm certainly not a spokesperson for the LDS Church. Having said that, I certainly wish that the Church would take an interest in my city! Any project they take on is sure to be done right! You can love them or hate them, but they are a class act when it comes to their many building projects around the world. It seems to me that those Salt Lakers, who are critical of the City Creek Project, have their heads firmly inserted in the "gift horses mouth".

I think when it's finished it'll be nice, we all just have to be patient. My only regret is that they didn't preserve (or plan to replace) the Inn at Temple Square. That was the nicest hotel in Salt Lake.

SLCGal: What unique and interesting feature are we losing that is taking Downtown SLC from unique to "every other city in the nation." Certainly criticisms of the project are valid, but yours makes no sense to me. Please elaborate.

Please take note at what a success the Gateway is! Also, SLC now only has 1 department store, Sears. Thanks Mayer Anderson!

SLC Girl - are you kidding? Crossroads and ZCMI in their most recent incarnation were horrible additions to the city. ANYTHING will be better. I'm still mad at the buildings that were torn down for Crossroads to be built. The Constitution building looked awesome. Check out the pictures in this issue of the News.

This project should have been a true Salt Lake City neighborhood and not just a shopping destination for the well-to-do. That is, totally incorporated into the street-level grid with stores that would allow for downtown people to run everyday errands, not just provide a place for for suburbanites to run up their credit cards even more. In this way the church is creating a shrine to the consumerist element that continues to work in direct opposition to its stated spiritual goals.

Get serious Salt Lake, it could be worse... Try having another "casino" built downtown... To our LDS church leaders, if SL doesn't appraciate your efforts please come and redo our downtown area in Las Vegas we would love your help.

Let's keep everything in prespective.

This project sounds wonderful. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is continuing to beautify downtown Salt Lake City.

JOSEPH - HAVE YOU EVEN TAKEN A LOOK AT THE PLANS? THERE ARE STORES CERTAINLY, BUT THERE ARE ALSO CULTURE OREIENTED AREAS AND VENUES AS WELL. THE SUN WILL STILL COME UP EVERY MORNING! GET A GRIP!

Joseph, are you implying that the "stated spiritual goals" include taking peoples choices away by limiting what they can and cannot buy? The church has never said you can't own what you can afford. It has always stressed financial resposibility and living within your means.

Karl, to answer your question, no. By limiting the stores to those on the high end an important opportunity - to be inclusive - is missed. My objection is to a lack of variety and therefore fewer choices. Rampant consumerism and waste are spiritual stumbling blocks - even if you can pay cash.

AW, I have taken a look at the plans several times.

Don't these people have anything to do except sit around and write silly comments to duffus other comment writers (probably including me?)

I still don't understand what business a church has dumping a billion dollars into a retail/residential project in the first place.

Freddy, the city has a few other department stores scattered about - Smith's Marketplace is certainly a 'department' store with quite nice apparel and home selections, actually. Also, Mervyns is located in Brickyard Plaza, within Salt Lake City limits. Downtown does have a hole, but has received a commitment from one more major retailer than it had before the change (Dillard's). So more options will return.

George, no.

Matt,
As stated in by Bishop Burton in the article, the main reason for the church putting money into it is so that downtown SLC, which is the international headquarters of the church, does not become a dump like so many old downtowns have become in other cities.