City Creek Center, which will replace downtown Salt Lake City's Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center malls, could attract 10 million to 12 million shoppers, according to Taubman Centers Inc., which is developing the mall for the church. Temple Square sees 5 million visitors a year.

“The impact of our project will be significant,” said Bruce Heckman, Taubman's vice president of development. He noted that Taubman's Cherry Creek Center in Denver is Colorado's top tourist attraction. “It's just the way our projects work.”

And Taubman continues to insist that a sky bridge across Main Street is integral to the project, despite persistent opposition from area planners and architects. Taubman, and the three department stores it is bringing to City Creek, could pull out of the project without the bridge.

On Tuesday, the mall developer pled its case to the City Council, saying the bridge is needed so shoppers can move easily through the second floor of the mall. Council members delayed a vote on whether to change the master plan to allow long-forbidden sky bridges on certain downtown streets. Some voiced concern that the new mall won't connect to surrounding blocks, harming retailers outside the mall.

There are also fears the sky bridge will “trap” shoppers in City Creek, keeping them off Main.

Heckman reiterated Taubman's position that the company wants to enliven Main Street. Main will include restaurants, some serving liquor, with outdoor dining. Apartments will sit on top of the shops, facing Main. And Heckman said Taubman was giving up prime retail space by adding two elevators and two sets of stairs for shoppers to use to get down to Main from the second level.

But council members noted that Taubman's plans for inside City Creek are more exciting than its designs for the exterior streets, including West Temple and 100 South. Taubman is creating a new pedestrian arcade that will run east and west with a glass roof that could retract. The new street is supposed to feel like a Main Street, with stone and brick facades. There will be Spanish steps and green plazas.

But the entrances on West Temple are sparse, despite standing across from potential shoppers attending conventions at the Salt Palace. “We are recreating the very same thing we have now,” complained Councilwoman Nancy Saxton, who is running for mayor. The council, she said, must decide what's best for the city, not Taubman.

Heavy-hitters in downtown's business world came out to support the sky bridge: Qwest (represented by the church's former lobbyist), Intermountain Healthcare, O.C. Tanner, Hamilton Partners.

“For a billion-dollar investment they're asking for a fairly minimal concession,” said Bruce Bingham, with Hamilton Partners, which plans a new office tower on Main.

Opponents came out too.

Daniel Ball, an urban planning student, told the council not to “buckle under the pressure. . . . This is poor design.”

Architect David Scheer said the way the project has been designed, as a self-contained mall, will “fail to energize the rest of downtown just as the existing malls have.”

And in an unprecedented move, Mayor Rocky Anderson - who has vowed he won't sell the church the air rights over Main Street for the bridge, calling it a “major mistake” - spoke out at the public hearing. He said his staff is working on a petition to eliminate vehicle traffic on Main Street between South Temple and 100 South, possibly negating the need for a sky bridge. The church isn't seeking the closure and had no immediate comment on the idea.

hmay@sltrib.com