In a frenzy to preserve Real Salt Lake's future in Utah, the Salt Lake City mayor is pushing a plan to build a soccer stadium - in Sandy.

At the same time, Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, whose city stands to benefit, is vowing not to raise taxes for a stadium deal and is sitting on the sidelines.

Two days before the Real Salt Lake owner's self-imposed deadline to land a stadium deal or dump the team, Anderson is rushing to resuscitate Salt Lake County's last offer: $23 million in hotel taxes coupled with $10 million from Sandy to secure a suburban stadium.

"It may have a new champion," said Salt Lake County Council Chairman Cort Ashton, the plan's architect. "I would think Mayor Anderson might help our council see the wisdom in the Cort Ashton proposal. If [county] Mayor [Peter] Corroon were behind the proposal and somehow it brought one council member on board . . . maybe we can keep Real Salt Lake in Sandy."

RSL executives did not return calls Wednesday seeking comment.

Anderson was unavailable for comment Wednesday. But his spokesman, Patrick Thronson, confirmed the mayor has lobbied county and RSL officials and is optimistic.

Anderson's motivation: Corral a sizable chunk of that hotel cash for his city - money House Speaker Greg Curtis plans to funnel toward TRAX in a possible special legislative session next month.

The mayor wants the leftover hotel taxes - out of $90 million, some $67 million could be split between Salt Lake City and the rest of the county - for a performing-arts complex (including a Broadway theater), a Salt Palace reserve fund and tourism promotion.

Plus, the team would put $7.5 million toward the city's proposed soccer and baseball complex in the Rose Park area and build a soccer academy nearby, Thronson said.

"We have an opportunity not only to keep this team in [Salt Lake County] but also to provide numerous economic-development potential for the county and for the state," Thronson said.

Anderson's alternative of plopping RSL's stadium at the fairpark is dead, Thronson acknowledged.

Corroon, who has been out of town, said he has yet to look at the proposal carefully but remains open-minded.

"Our goal is to try to get it done," said Corroon, who dispatched his financial experts to huddle with RSL accountants this week. "I want to see this team stay here. I've said that from the beginning." But Corroon stopped short of endorsing Anderson's last-ditch pitch, insisting details must be vetted.

County Council members also must be swayed. They rejected a stadium proposal seeking $30 million in hotel taxes in a 5-4 vote last month.

"If he gets the people on board, he can count on my vote," Councilman Joe Hatch said. "But I don't know where he's going to get the votes. Rocky's a dollar short and a day late. The time for a deal was three weeks ago."

Hatch also questioned why RSL has not engaged the county - "They've specifically sent the signal to bug off," he said - if Saturday's stadium deadline is real.

In multiple interviews this week, RSL owner Dave Checketts has stuck to his Aug. 12 D-day, but sounded a conciliatory tone, saying he "reacted very poorly" when he criticized the County Council last month. Still, he was not necessarily optimistic. "It's been rejected by the county twice and that means we're nowhere," Checketts told the sports radio station 1280 The Zone. The owner also acknowledged three parties - two outside Utah and one in Utah County - have lined up to buy the team.

Meantime, Dolan said Wednesday that Sandy isn't going to generate a new funding scheme before Saturday's deadline. All the suburb will put up, he noted, is the $10 million previously proffered.

"We're not going to raise any taxes," he said. "We're not going to propose any new taxes." Dolan went on to call some County Council members "stupid" for rejecting a previous proposal and offered a grim take on Anderson's effort. "It's not going to get done at the county."

djensen@sltrib.com

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Tribune reporters Jacob Santini and Heather May contributed to this story.