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Gene Kennedy ReportingThe public is weighing in on an ambitious redevelopment plan for downtown Salt Lake City.
Jana Richards / Likes downtown plans: "The way downtown has died, I think it will be wonderful to rebuild some interest in the area. It sounds like it's going to be beautiful."
It will cost billions of dollars and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is footing the bill.
Plans call for a massive redevelopment of downtown Salt Lake City that will include new stores, residential buildings, office towers, and a lot of landscaped open space.
Now that they've seen the plan, people are offering mixed reactions.
Some fear the five-year redevelopment plan will take too long, and businesses will take a hit as a result. Others feel it's just what Salt Lake City needs.
The executive director for Salt Lake's Downtown Alliance says it's a "home run."
Bob Farrington / Downtown Alliance: "It's a bold step. It achieves a lot of long-held planning goals we've had as a community, to have more housing downtown, to open our streets up, to have a more concentrated urban core."
Kelly Struhs / Likes downtown plan: "It sounds a lot better than just having nightclubs. Having grass and open space is a nicer spot than just concrete."
The LDS Church will pay billions of dollars to demolish several buildings, among them the Crossroads Mall and the ZCMI Center.
The plan then-- spend five years building new retail outfits which will be home for Nordstrom, Macy's and a new Harmon's grocery store, plus new residential buildings, office towers, and six acres of open space with manicured gardens, walkways and a skywalk.
Many feel it's the kind of beauty downtown needs, but some fear small businesses will pack and leave while it takes five years to make this a reality. Plus, there's the issue of which stores and restaurants would remain open on Sunday.
Dan Danielson / Downtown Employee: "It's the only day I have off, Saturdays and Sundays. So you're going to be limiting it..."
Lindsay Morrow / Downtown Resident: "They shouldn't just grant the Mormon Church entire streets, and say do whatever you want with them."
One woman we talked with says she basically plans to stay away from the area entirely because of the LDS Church involvement.
Like it or not, downtown Salt Lake City is going to change dramatically in the near future. Construction for the City Creek Center, as it's called, will begin sometime next year and is to be completed by 2011.
Here's a quick overview of the project.
The plan will include retail shown here in pink and red.
At least three national department stores will anchor the retail, and a full-service grocery store will be in the mix.
Here the yellow buildings show where new residential buildings will be, and the blue shows office space, including new office towers.
A four-level underground parking lot will provide 56-hundred parking spaces.
Historic downtown streets, Richards Street and Regent Street, along with Social Hall Avenue, will be re-opened or extended to provide pedestrian walkways through the blocks.
Plus, there will be six acres of gardens and open space, with fountains and man-made streams to represent the historic South Fork of City Creek which has long been underground.
An investment like this is quite unique for a city the size of Salt Lake. Such an investment hasn't been seen since the Olympics.
Anchor tenants Nordstrom and Macy's had mixed feelings-- excitement about the project, and sadness they would have to close their doors during construction.
For businesses like Harmon's, which will add a 55-thousand square foot store to downtown, it's an opportunity for growth.
But for others, like the Inn at Temple Square, which will close its doors at the end of October, it begins a month of farewells.
