SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall unveiled new renderings for what the plaza outside the Salt Lake Main Library could look like during her State of the City address Tuesday.
The sketches depict a plaza with more green space, trees and water features, essentially building on Washington Square Park across the street. Her administration plans to seek $2.2 million this year to help prepare construction documents for the transformation of the space near 200 East and 400 South.
If everything aligns perfectly, construction could begin in either 2027 or 2028, said Blake Thomas, senior adviser on real estate and capital projects for the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office.
This plan for the city’s “civic center” is the first of a new approach to the city’s Green Loop vision, a proposed linear park surrounding downtown.
Reimaging ‘civic center’
The mayor’s remarks were based on thousands of comments collected online or at community events held at Library Square last year, including multiple Twilight Concert Series shows and various festivals.
The city, Thomas explained, was concerned about the deteriorating state of the “sea of pavers” that makes up the plaza, as well as the urban heat island effect they create.
People overwhelmingly agreed that major changes were needed for the plaza, especially if it was to remain a location for summer events.
“The feedback was so unanimous,” he said. “Everyone said it was hot, it was uncomfortable and they want a shadier, more improved environment with family-friendly amenities.”
Salt Lake City presented the results to the Seattle-based landscape architecture firm GGN, which developed the designs for a vision plan released on Tuesday.
This new design could help retain and enhance community events that normally take place at Library Square, while also making the area a more desirable park every other day of the year, Thomas said.
Rethinking Green Loop implementation
It also showcases a new approach to Green Loop planning.
Salt Lake City plans to look at the options for every block along the proposed Green Loop — a loop along 200 East and 500 West from South Temple to 900 South — instead of looking at it as one large project. Each project would fit what’s best for that area.
“This is iterative, block-by-block, major one-off projects,” Thomas said, adding that every block will be viewed differently, but with the same overall goal of how it can improve downtown connectivity.
Some elements are already complete, such as the 9-Line Trail and parts of 500 West near the Gateway, the latter of which was completed for the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
Ways to beautify the 9-Line are part of the long-term vision. Salt Lake City is working with Wenk Associates to map additional options for 500 West.
Mendenhall also announced that the city had reached an agreement with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on a partnership over the northern section of the loop. Those conversations are expected to begin in earnest after next year’s Salt Lake Temple open house, which is projected to bring at least 3 million downtown visits over six months in 2027.
The two will look at ways to enhance the greenscape canopy cover along sections of South Temple that make sense, which may improve the pedestrian experience at Temple Square and support connection points to Main Street and the downtown revitalization plans east of the Delta Center, Thomas said.
Each block of the loop may have a different feel, but it’s all about improving connections in and around downtown, which the mayor said she’d like to have ready for Salt Lake City’s hosting of the 2034 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“They are a deliberate, concerted effort by Salt Lake City to keep and create the most beautiful, walkable, connected downtown we can possibly have,” she said. “They create a better ecosystem.”
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