Questions about Salt Lake plan arise
Chamber seeks input on what downtown should be
The plan, introduced Wednesday, called on business and community leaders to come together to craft "a common blueprint" for the future of Salt Lake City — to transcend political boundaries and commit to a common vision.
"One of the things we've seen because of a lack of vision . . . is a deterioration of appreciation for the capital city, by people outside of Salt Lake City," Salt Lake Chamber President Lane Beattie told the Deseret Morning News editorial board Thursday. "We hope and we feel that all of the right things are in place, that that needs to be restrengthened, and we believe it can be."
What Wednesday's event also did, however, was raise questions. How will this "vision of visions" be used? Will it be useful or relevant if it is crafted without the participation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which hasn't commenced or unveiled final plans for its downtown redevelopment project? Will it be useful if it runs contrary to the will of mayors and city and county councils?
On Wednesday, LDS Church spokesman Dale Bills said the church had not yet decided how it would participate in the Downtown Rising project. He declined further comment Thursday.
Time lines aside, Beattie argued that the lack of news about the church's downtown redevelopment project doesn't equate to a lack of progress.
"There's been no substantial information given," Beattie said. "That doesn't mean there hasn't been substantial work going on. And as frustrating as that is to the people who want to give that information out, and to a business community who wants to rely on it for building that enthusiasm, it's very frustrating."
But Bob Farrington, executive director of the Downtown Alliance, argued that specifics about the church's plans are not necessary to come up with a vision for the city.
Second, Beattie acknowledged the Downtown Rising initiative is decidedly "big picture." It won't have the force of law, and though governments (Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Tooele, Davis and others) are invited to participate on an ex-officio basis, Downtown Rising is business-led.
However, the chamber hopes that, as with the 1963 "Second Century" plan that inspired it — and which Beattie argued foresaw the Salt Palace, Abravanel Hall, the Main Street Plaza, the courts complex and TRAX, among other things — the 2006 plan will be a forward-looking, valuable tool.
You can be the first to comment on this story.