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Inn at Temple Square? Gone. Crossroads Plaza mall? Mostly gone. ZCMI Center Mall? Going. New Church History Library? Going up. Salt Lake Tabernacle? Finished renovating, sturdier and as magnificent (maybe more magnificent) than ever.
Members in town for the Church's 177th Annual General Conference are finding Salt Lake City as dynamic as ever. Some of the changes occurring since the October 2006 conference are dramatic.
But one, the completion of seismic retrofitting and remodeling of the Tabernacle, brings back a sense of normalcy. After being obscured for nearly two years by construction fences, the historic building is now unveiled and ready for dedication during general conference.
Other Church projects involve concrete, rebar and rubble.
Construction of the Church history library is progressing, the foundation completed and walls rising above ground level. Ground was broken for the building across the street east of the Conference Center in 2005, but the transformation of what was a surface parking lot to the concrete and metal frame of the new library has been most dramatic over the past six months.
Expected to be completed in 2009, the library will house such historical items as books, manuscripts, photographs and microfilm. It will be greatly increase the Church's archival storage area, preserving the contents in a state-of-the-art environment.
A hard-to-miss Church project south of Temple Square is the fast-advancing demolition of the Crossroads Plaza. Perhaps most notable is the absence of the Inn at Temple Square. The hotel directly across the street south of Temple Square's Assembly Hall was the first building to fall in a Church project that is part of Salt Lake City's ambitious "Downtown Rising" urban renewal program.
Demolition will continue progressively east to include the ZCMI Center and other buildings on its block. Though that mall is still open, patrons will find many of the retail businesses have already moved out.
The debris will make way for a development by the Church's commercial real estate arm — Property Reserve Inc., in cooperation with major mall developer Taubman Centers Inc. Dubbed City Creek Center, three blocks will include retail, office and residential space in what has been described as a pedestrian-friendly, open environment including gardens and water features representing nearby City Creek.
Diners during conference will find the ZCMI Center food court open, but the Lion House Pantry closed for renovation. A new option is the Nauvoo Cafe on the ground floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Despite the pockets of upheaval, much of the Temple Square and Church Plaza area retains its familiar, serene atmosphere. Trees have leaves, grass is turning green and spring flowers are blooming in the tradition of April conferences past.
E-mail to: ghill@desnews.com
