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Still smarting from Real Salt Lake's decision to move to Sandy, Salt Lakers were grasping Tuesday for any tiny victory amid their high-profile defeat.
Sure, Sandy is getting the $60 million to $65 million stadium, but the sports enterprise zone that might be created to fund construction could end up helping Salt Lake City as well.
In essence, Salt Lake City officials hope such a funding mechanism - siphoning sales taxes generated by the stadium and surrounding developments - could be used for cultural venues, too, and help the city possibly renovate Main Street's Utah Theater or build a new theater in a proposed downtown cultural district.
"Trying to make lemonade out of lemons," City Councilman Dave Buhler explained.
Meanwhile, RSL owner Dave Checketts insisted late Tuesday the stadium price tag would not put a pinch on the public.
"This will absolutely, positively not increase the load on the Utah taxpayer," Checketts said.
He went on to say Salt Lake County would not pay for either the land or any part of the stadium, but that funding would come from a yet-undefined public-private partnership.
A large part of RSL's decision to go to the suburbs was political: The team may need support from state lawmakers to pay for the venue and - unlike Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan - Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson holds little sway on Capitol Hill.
Buhler said he gives credit to Anderson for helping Sandy. He wasn't surprised by RSL's decision "based on Rocky's good relationships with other [political] players," Buhler said sarcastically.
But Anderson said Tuesday from Washington, D.C., that downtown was doomed not because of him but because House Speaker Greg Curtis is from Sandy and wanted the stadium there. And Salt Lake City has no Republican representation in the GOP-dominated Legislature, he noted.
"I know everybody would like to blame me for everything," Anderson said. "History would reflect that Salt Lake City has not been treated well by the Legislature for many years. People who say that it's because of me are simply saying that nobody ought to ever stand up to the Legislature on any other issues because there might be ramifications."
Anderson said he won't attend games in Sandy - he saw RSL once this season at the University of Utah. "I certainly wish Dave Checketts and [team CEO] Dean Howes and all the rest the best."
Earlier this year, lawmakers took away Salt Lake City's best hope of landing the stadium downtown by forbidding all cities from using Redevelopment Agency money for sports facilities. To place the stadium downtown, RSL would have had to bet on the Legislature reversing that bill.
Even so, Salt Lake County Councilman Joe Hatch, still sees a way the stadium's move to the burbs could be a boon for the capital.
If city officials borrow the sports enterprise zone model, they could spruce up a cultural district with more restaurants, movie theaters, and perhaps a new rehearsal theater for the Utah Symphony. Such a facility, he says, could free Abravanel Hall for more public concerts.
"Let's make this a win-win," Hatch said. "[A cultural district] could be a bigger feeder for the hotels."
In Sandy, specifics on a sports enterprise zone are sparse, according to Nick Duerksen, assistant director of community development.
"There are a billion different ways these can be done," he said.
And lawmakers - who must set up a provision in Utah statute for one - could tinker with the details.
In either case, Utah Taxpayers Association Vice President Mike Jerman doesn't approve. He says a sports enterprise zone is simply an RDA that uses sales tax.
"It's just as bad, maybe worse."
Jerman says the biggest stumbling block is that RSL has yet to spell out specifics on funding. "That's really the issue for taxpayers, not the location."
Some Salt Lake City Council members do have clout at the Capitol - including Buhler, himself a former state senator - but they didn't step in to push for a downtown stadium, either. The seven-member council did back Anderson's push to place the stadium at the Utah State Fairpark, but RSL rejected the idea.
"Seven people can't really put a deal together," Buhler said. "That's where you need a mayor."
Some in the business community came to Anderson's defense Tuesday. Lane Beattie, president of the Salt Lake Chamber, said blaming Anderson is "almost offensive."
"Rocky Anderson has worked extremely hard, more than most people will ever know, at trying to make this thing work. Salt Lake City is prime property. I'm grateful to be able to tell you that. It made getting the land at a price that could make this deal work very, very difficult to do."
Bruce Bingham, an executive with Hamilton Partners, which is building an office tower on Main Street, said downtown Salt Lake City would have been a better spot for the stadium.
"I don't blame them for going to Sandy because Salt Lake City was not able to muster the coordinated political will to have it be in a more favorable location," he said.
Bingham didn't want to "point fingers at anyone." When asked about Anderson's difficulty with legislators, Bingham said "that's unfortunate but I think that's a fact. He's the only mayor we've got. We just try and work with him and the circumstances here and do the best we can."
Bob Farrington, executive director of the Downtown Alliance, said RSL's choice was disappointing and a bad planning decision. It's a repeat of past mistakes, he said, pointing to decisions to build the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy and the E Center in West Valley City instead of the capital.
"Most communities that do better in generating that activity for their downtowns are clustering their developments in their downtown," he said. "It's just Planning 101."
Tom Guinney, an owner of the Gastronomy chain restaurants and chairman of the Downtown Alliance, said he preferred the stadium downtown. But there are no sour grapes. "Congratulations to Tom Dolan. It's going to be a great addition to Sandy."
As for Salt Lake City, Wells Fargo executive Mark Howell said no one need fear for its future - especially with the proposed housing developments and the LDS Church's plans to renovate the two Main Street malls.
"Downtown," he said, "is in an extremely well-poised position."
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Tribune reporters Derek P. Jensen and Jacob Santini contributed to this story.