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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has launched an unprecedented public relations campaign about the Main Street Plaza, mailing thousands of informational packets throughout Salt Lake and Davis Counties.
Included in those packets, sent to religious, business and government leaders, is a letter from LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.
The packet is called a perspective on 'the new church plaza,' and this is just one of several days developments in this continuing controversy.
It has been a busy week, not on Main Street Plaza, but about it. In the informational packet, a letter addressed 'To Our Neighbors' from President Hinckley refers to the church's new Conference Center built in October 2000.
He writes: "The prayer of dedication included a plea that the plaza be seen as a place of peace - an oasis in the midst of this bustling city. Unfortunately, some have since felt that this should be a place of protest. A distressing legal battle has ensued."
"The whole idea of the plaza from the outset was that this was to be a place of community. The idea of the plaza really originated with the community, through its elected representatives. It was an idea that the church was supportive of, and we're hopeful that now that the community can come together and resolve it now in the short run," says Elder Lance B. Wickman of the General Counsel with the LDS Church.
Church leaders say from the beginning they requested that there be no demonstrations or protests on the plaza because of its proximity to the temple. The temple, via the plaza, is a backdrop to many wedding pictures.
The ACLU took the free speech issue to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and won. Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson won't give the easement back to the church, but is hoping he can propose time, place and manner restrictions to ease the situation. LDS Church leaders say they won't agree to his ideas, but he's not alone in City Hall.
On Thursday, Attorney John Martinez, representing the Salt Lake City Council, announced a legal opinion on how to resolve the stalemate... the members could pass a new ordinance which would give the church the public easement.
"I would absolutely veto and I would also challenge the authority of the council to pass such an ordinance," Anderson says.
That same day, the 10th Circuit Court ruled once again on the matter, saying it would not hear the church's appeal on the free speech issue. Church attorneys will now take their case to the United States Supreme Court.
So, now there are four parties, each with different opinions on the Main Street Plaza. The mayor says the city should continue controlling the public easement. The city council may vote to give that easement to the church. The ACLU says if the council does that, it may file another lawsuit, and church leaders want the plaza to be a place of peace in the city's center.
"Is it really too much to ask, a place of sacredness, a place of tranquility, a place that people can enjoy without all the aspersions and all the hyperbole that seems to flow when it becomes a public forum," says Bishop H. David Burton, Presiding Bishop for the LDS Church.
In his letter, President Hinckley has invited public opinion on this. He wants to hear from the community. The legal appeals continue as well.
