Instead, the alliance on Monday partly granted the wish of Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, pledging to give the city another $200,000 for the center - if the mayor raises $200,000.

In short, the Sorenson Unity Center - a project that grew out of the Main Street Plaza controversy - will proceed and should be open by December 2006.

"We rejected out of hand the idea that the money for the Unity Center would be diverted to [removing] the railroad tracks," Alexander Morrison, the alliance's executive director, said Monday following the group's private meeting. "The donors gave money for a Unity Center and we gave the city money for a Unity Center. That's the end of it."

Leaders of the neighboring Poplar Grove Community Council told the mayor last week they would rather the city rid their neighborhood of freight trains than build a community center. The city needs to find up to $50 million to fix a railroad curve that would prompt Union Pacific to abandon the 900 South line.

Michael Clara, secretary of the community council, said he wasn't surprised at the alliance's decision. "As a community, we're asking for bread and they're giving us a stone in terms of the Unity Center."

Anderson, an alliance co-founder, didn't want the money diverted toward eliminating trains from the 900 South railroad line, though he has been trying to remove UP trains from the neighborhood for years.

But he did want $400,000 from the alliance to cover skyrocketing construction costs for the Unity Center. Without the money, the mayor said the city would have to scale back the building, eliminating some classrooms and possibly the drop-in day-care center.

Anderson has said he wouldn't seek city money to cover higher construction costs. He couldn't be reached Monday to answer whether he changed his mind.

Morrison said the alliance settled on $200,000 because members felt some "sympathy" for the city, but didn't want to "set the precedent every time you have an overrun on building costs you can come back to us and expect to get more."

The alliance gave the city $4 million for the Unity Center - billionaire James Sorenson gave another $1.5 million in land and money - but actually raised $5 million for it. After clearing it with donors, the group - an alliance of religious and community leaders and millionaires with the goal of healing divides - kept the extra $1 million for community awards.

The Unity Center will be built in Glendale near the Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center, 855 W. California Ave. (1280 South). It will include classrooms for adult education, a fitness center, a performing arts theater and a dental clinic.

In other alliance business, Morrison said the group will change its unity awards program to give 30 college scholarships of $2,000 to low-income high school students. Before, the alliance gave awards to students and adults.

hmay@sltrib.com

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