Show I Downtown Facelift Michael Grisley Contributing Writer Downtown Salt Lakes Lake's landscape and skyline sk have been changing frequently in inthe inthe inthe the past few years The 2002 Olympic Winter Games started these changes with several new structures being added to the downtown area When the Olympics left town in late February of 2002 the construction did not In some places buildings crumbled while in others gleaming new steel beams crept toward the sky with train tracks scattered below Everywhere one looked there was construction of some sort happening While downtown lost some unforgettable spots like the famed Zephyr Club it also gained a newly designed library to add to the character of the area The changes are going to continue to happen with the major redesign of the Crossroads Plaza Man Mall and several blocks blocks- of downtown Salt Lake The changes for downtown were released last October but resurfaced in the news when department store decided to sign re-sign its lease in Crossroads Plaza Their lease was due to expire in 2005 when it hoped to move to the nearby Gateway A city council council council coun coun- cil vote that prohibited stores larger than square feet from opening at The Gateway posed the threat of leaving Salt Lake altogether Its a loss to the entire Salt Lake City if they pick up their trunks and move elsewhere said Maureen McAvey She was an objective consultant on the issue that City Council sought out for advice The move was publicly reported by most local news stations up until it was made clear that would not be moving to The Gateway It didn't surface again in the local media until August of this year when it was reported on that had decided to renew its it's lease at the Crossroads Plaza which is planning a major renovations will remain open during the redesign and cover approximately square feet spread across two levels The construction is scheduled to be finished in 2007 when will have a grand reopening The major redesign of the Crossroads Plaza coincides with plans plans- made by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Latter Saints to invest hundreds of n millions of dollars dollars dollars dol dol- lars to construct new higher education facilities The new building will be between North Temple and South Temple and between and West This will place the new buildings next See Downtown continued on page 4 Downtown continued from front to the Churchs Church's world headquarters headquarters headquarters head head- quarters complex as well as Temple Square The west westend westend westend end of South Temple is a vital stretch of real estate that provides provides provides pro pro- vides key linkage between downtown malls at Crossroads and The Gateway said presiding Bishop H. H David Burton Burton who announced the plans for redevelopment on October of last year also said We have felt for some sometime sometime sometime time that South Temple can be one of the grand boulevards boulevards boulevards boule boule- of our city That cannot come to pass if it ends in two blocks of empty asphalt It was reported on thi tip major major redesign and reconstruction will take several years to reach full completion but phased redevelopment is expected to begin in 2004 |