Sky bridge over troubled waters
After months of brouhaha, hoo-ha and palaver, the Salt Lake City Council approved a bridge over Main for the LDS Church's City Creek Center — just like everyone knew they would.As the Tribune movingly tells it:
One councilman choked back tears. Several said they will remember the vote all their lives. And most agreed the move will be a catalyst for the capital to forget "the former fortress" of malls that dominated downtown for 30 years."Remember the vote all their lives?" The council must live in a parallel universe to the citizens of Salt Lake City. Hello, it's a souless, cheesy shopping mall! In addition to Gateway, we soon will have Gateway Downtown and Gateway Sugarhouse.
And, as for moving beyond "fortress" malls downtown — now we'll have two fortresses joined by a drawbridge. Sweet.
Only Councilman Luke Garrott seems to get it: "I don't think you develop downtown through mega-projects." Garrott, who is new on the council, had the innocence to argue that the mall's owner (that would be the LDS Church) is more interested in the mall's bottom line, which a skywalk will improve, than a revitalization of downtown, which it won't.
Says woefully inexperienced Garrott:
We want [the bridge] to be invisible and transparent, and on the other hand we want to make it a landmark for the ages. I don't think it can be both things.Ha, ha, innocent Luke. It can be anything the church's developer says it is — even a little bit of Paris.
2 Comments:
Hey Glen, please ask Derek Jensen which council member "choked back tears." I read his piece twice and far as I can tell, he didn't tell us. Seems like if a reporter teases us like that, he ought to give us an answer. Besides, I want to know who that pussy was and whether I helped elect him/her!
Indeed. With the projects cost overruns it is looking more and more like a money laundering scheme to turn tithing funds into real estate which is then in turn leveraged to borrow money for the mall.
With church owned banks though, who is to question the mormon elite? For that matter, the indentured servants paying for this windfall will lap up every saccharine extolling of the virtues afforded the brethren in their venture.
This makes me sick and hopefully some federal regulators will step in and get the books of the Mormon church opened. I wouldn't hold my breath though.
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