City Creek Center facts for kids
City Creek Skybridge over Main Street in Downtown Salt Lake City, March 2012
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| Location | Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
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| Coordinates | 40°46′5″N 111°53′28″W / 40.76806°N 111.89111°W |
| Address | 50 South Main Street Salt Lake City, UT 84101 |
| Opening date | March 22, 2012 |
| Developer | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Taubman Centers, Inc. Harmons Grocery Stores Cowboy Partners LC |
| Owner | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Taubman Centers, Inc. |
| Architect | ZGF Architects, Callison, Hobbs + Black Architects, FFKR Architects, SWA |
| No. of stores and services | 110+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 |
| Total retail floor area | 700,000 square feet (65,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 (3 in Macy's, Street level entrance in Nordstrom) |
| Parking | 5,600 underground spaces |
| Public transit access | City Center Station Blue and Green lines (TRAX) |
The City Creek Center is a large area in Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It has an outdoor shopping mall, offices, and homes. You can also find a cool fountain and a stream that looks like a real creek. This big project is near Temple Square.
It was built by Property Reserve, Inc., which is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Taubman Centers, Inc.. The center mixes shopping with places to live. It has pretty walkways with plants and streams. The City Creek Center opened on March 22, 2012. This whole area covers almost 20 acres of downtown Salt Lake City. It was part of a huge plan to make downtown Salt Lake City better.
Contents
History of City Creek Center
The idea for City Creek Center started in 2003. A company owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bought an old mall called Crossroads Plaza. This mall was across the street from another old mall, the ZCMI Center Mall. Both malls were built in the 1970s.
In 2001, a new outdoor mall called The Gateway opened nearby. It started taking business away from the old Main Street malls. Soon, a big store called Nordstrom decided to leave Crossroads and move to The Gateway. To help downtown Salt Lake City stay lively, the Church bought the old malls in 2003. They wanted to rebuild the area.
The Church worked with Taubman Centers, Inc. to design the new project. They wanted to bring in new stores. In October 2006, the plans for City Creek Center were shared. The center officially opened on March 22, 2012.
Design and Cool Features
The City Creek Center has many different spaces for homes, offices, and shops. The main mall is designed to be open-air, like The Gateway mall. One special feature is its retractable roof, which can open and close. The mall is made for people to walk around easily.
It has over six acres of green spaces, fountains, and a stream. A special walkway, called a skybridge, connects the two parts of the mall across Main Street. You can get to the center using the TRAX light rail system at the City Center station. There's also a huge underground parking lot for 5,600 cars.
The Skybridge
The skybridge is a pedestrian bridge that links the two upper floors of the shopping center. It goes over Main Street. This bridge is very heavy, weighing 320,000 pounds! It has roof panels that can open and glass walls. There are also benches inside for people to rest. The skybridge is right above the TRAX light rail station.
Outdoor Spaces and Design
The designers, SWA, made sure the City Creek Center fit into the city's street plan. They wanted it to feel like a natural part of downtown. They were inspired by the original City Creek, which is a real creek in the area. They created a 1.2 kilometer (about 0.75 mile) waterway that flows through the property. This waterway is a green space for people to enjoy.
Other parts of the outdoor design include small parks, gardens on rooftops, and green connections throughout the whole project. These features help make the area feel like a modern urban living space.
What You Can Find There
Shops and Restaurants
City Creek Center has two main department stores: Nordstrom and Macy's. Nordstrom has a two-level store. Macy's has a three-level store. There are also about 300,000 square feet of space for other specialty stores.
You can find a Harmons grocery store there too. The food court is a great place to eat. It has a view to the west. Some popular places to eat include McDonald's, Chang Chun, Sbarro, Red Iguana, and Bocata. Deseret Book's main store also opened here. Other first stores included The Disney Store, Porsche Design, and The Cheesecake Factory.
Office Buildings
Several office buildings are part of the City Creek Center. One building, the Key Bank Tower, was taken down. Its businesses moved to another building, which was renamed the KeyBank Building. Another old building, the First Security Bank Building, was saved and renovated instead of being torn down.
Homes
There are about 300 homes at City Creek Center. These are condos and apartments. They are located in five tall buildings. One of these is 99 West on South Temple. Another building is called Richard Court. The 23-floor Regent building was finished in 2011. Other apartments are mostly along 100 South Street.
Hotels
The Marriott Downtown at City Creek Hotel is the only hotel in the City Creek Center. It used to be called the Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown. The hotel opened in 1981 and was updated when the City Creek area was redeveloped.
Parking
City Creek Center has 5,600 parking spaces. These are all underground beneath the center. The parking is used by people who live there, work there, or are just visiting for the day.
Building the Center
Most of the City Creek Center was finished by the end of 2011. It opened in early 2012. This huge project covers almost 20 acres in downtown Salt Lake City. It was built to help make the city's downtown a lively place again.
Work to take down the old buildings started in November 2006. By early 2007, many old structures were gone. The old Macy’s and Nordstrom stores also closed. On August 18, 2007, the tall Key Bank Tower was taken down in a controlled explosion. Demolition was finished by the end of 2007. Then, workers spent six more months digging and preparing the ground.
By mid-2008, many of the underground parts were complete. The parking garage under the future Nordstrom store was finished. The main structure for a tall condo tower also began to rise. The food court section opened on June 10, 2009. The first homes, Richard's Court, were finished in spring 2010.
What People Thought
Some people were concerned about the skybridge. They worried it would make shoppers stay on the upper levels and not visit stores on the street. They remembered how similar bridges in the past had caused some street-level stores to close.
Others wondered if building such a big shopping center was the right choice for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They thought the money might be better spent on other things like community help. However, many people disagreed. They said the center brought new jobs and made downtown beautiful. The Church also stated that no tithing money (donations to the Church) was used for the project. The project was paid for by the Church's commercial real estate company.
In 2008, the Sierra Club praised the City Creek development. They said it was one of 60 projects chosen to help create new environmental building standards. This showed that the project was designed with care for the environment.
See also
In Spanish: City Creek Center para niños
