ZCMI CENTER & CROSSROADS PLAZA
South Main Street and 100 South
Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City's original downtown shopping mall was built on 8 acres of a 10-acre block. The 50 million dollar ZCMI CENTER was developed by the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints, under the auspices of the Zion Securities Corporation. The urban renewal mall was designed by Gruen Associates of Los Angeles. Its construction commenced on October 12, 1971.

The mall-to-be would be anchored by a Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution -or ZCMI- department store; the flagship of a chain dating back to 1868. The original ZCMI at the mall site encompassed approximately 140,000 square feet. It was replaced in two phases, as part of the construction of ZCMI CENTER. 

During the first phase, a new structure was built adjacent to the original store. Some of said structure would eventually be utilized for mall tenants. For the time being, it would house a temporary ZCMI. The store moved into its provisional quarters in July 1973.  The original location, now vacant, was demolished. Its 19th century cast iron facade was removed and restored. It would be installed on the front of the new ZCMI.

On July 17, 1975, the first new ZCMI CENTER stores opened their doors; Joseph Magnin and Weisfeld's Jewelers. A mall-wide dedication commenced on September 22, 1975 and continued for 6 days. Conrad Bullen Harrison (Mayor of Salt Lake City) cut a ceremonial ribbon. City officials, LDS Church officials and store managers rode an antique car parade through the upper parking garage.

Entertainment was furnished by the Repertory Dance Theatre, Salt Lake Scots and Brigham Young University International Folk Dancers. Music came from the Utah Symphony Orchestra, Sweet Adelines, Aloha Islanders and Sweet Edelweiss Chorus.

In keeping with the times, the central atrium and shopping concourses at ZCMI CENTER had no natural lighting. There were fifty operational stores at the September 1975 dedication. Charter tenants included Castletons, Coach House Gifts, Size 5-7-9 Shops, Foxmoor Casuals, GNC, Hickory Farms of Ohio, Morrow's Nut House and Record Bar. The 26-story Beneficial Life Tower was built as part of the mall's development. The building's grand opening was held in November 1975.

Phase two of the development of the new ZCMI store was completed on September 13, 1976. Store operations were moved into a new, 5-level (281,000 square foot) building. A second mall dedication was held, which signified completion of the complex. It had taken nearly 6 years to achieve this goal.

In attendance at the second dedication were Spencer W. Kimbal (president of Zion Securities, the mall's developer), J. Howard Dunn (vice president of Zion Securities), Calvin Lewellyn Rampton (D) (Governor of Utah) and Ted Lewis Wilson (Mayor of Salt Lake City).

Entertainment was provided by the Brigham Young University Folk Dancers, Greek Folk Dancers, Janet Todd & Company -world champion accordionist- and Mr. Chips, the trained chimpanzee. A Bicentennial tribute included performances by the Davis High School Band, Salt Lake Symphonic Choir and Brigham Young University Sounds of Freedom. Cash, gifts and awards were also given out during the festivities, with the grand prize being a trip for two the Hawaii.

In its original state, ZCMI CENTER encompassed approximately 508,800 leasable square feet and, when fully leased, housed sixty-three stores and services. At the time of its completion, ZCMI CENTER was the largest inner city shopping mall in the United States. The complex proved so successful that a second downtown shopping mall was built on the 10-acre city block directly to the west.

The 100 million dollar CROSSROADS PLAZA was designed by Stephen T. Baird and developed by Crossroads Associates, a joint venture of Gaithersburg, Maryland's Sidney W. Foulger, Salt Lake City's Jack Okland and the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Demolition of existing structures commenced in June 1978, with construction underway by August of the same year.

CROSSROADS PLAZA was a fully-enclosed, 4-level shopping complex that encompassed around 1.2 million leasable square feet. Unlike the artificially-lit ZCMI CENTER, CROSSROADS PLAZA had a Center Court skylight, which bathed the area below in natural light. The mall also featured an 8-level parking structure and 20-story Commercial Security Bank Tower.

The first operational tenant, the Plitt Theaters Crossroads Cinema, opened for business on June 20, 1980. The tri-screen venue had a total of 1,568 seats. The CSB Bank Tower was inaugurated on July 23, 1980.

A mall-wide dedication was held on August 2nd. Attending the ceremony were Scott Milne Matheson, Junior (D) (Governor of Utah), Ted Lewis Wilson (Mayor of Salt Lake City), Ezra Taft Benson (president of the LDS Church), Allain Russo (president of Weinstock's) and mall developers Sidney Foulger and Jack Okland. A mini-parade was led by Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters, with music from the Lagoon Marching Showband.

The original shopping hub was anchored by a 3-level (180,000 square foot), Sacramento-based Weinstock's and 3-level (140,000 square foot), Seattle-based Nordstrom, at the time the third-largest store in the chain. Among 137 stores and services were Jean Nicole, Lerner Shops, Chess King, Radio Shack and the 16-bay Richards Street Marketplace food court.

An indoor-outdoor renovation of ZCMI CENTER got underway in January 1990. The project was designed by the Feola Deenihan Archuleta firm, of Glendale, California, and John Brunt & Associates, of Salt Lake City. As part of the project, an open plaza between the Kennecott Tower and Deseret Book store was reconfigured as a 4-story, glass-enclosed atrium. This housed the 12-bay The Park Food Court. 

Center Court was refurbished with two fountains, two elevators, four palm trees, brass railings and balconies. Marble flooring was installed throughout the complex, entrances rebuilt and new stores signed. The ZCMI store was also refurbished, with departments relocated and-or expanded. Lastly, the name of the complex was changed to ZCMI CENTER MALL. The remodeling, originally planned for completion in November 1990, was not finished until November 1991. 

The first anchor nameplate change was done at the CROSSROADS PLAZA mall. Weinstock's was shuttered  on December 20, 1992, with Mervyn's opening in the space in August 1993. The second rebranding took place at ZCMI CENTER MALL. The ZCMI store re-opened -as a Portland-based Meier & Frank- on April 18, 2001. The third anchor rebranding involved the conversion of Meier & Frank into a Macy's, which transpired on September 9, 2006.

Acrimonious retail rivals for several years, ZCMI CENTER MALL and CROSSROADS PLAZA agreed to a truce in the late 1990s. They began to be marketed as a single entity; THE DOWNTOWN MALLS. This could have been a fortuitous move. A major commercial competitor, GATEWAY CENTER {.5 mile west}, was to enter the picture in November 2001.

By that time, the DOWNTOWN MALLS were beginning to decline. National chain stores were pulling up stakes, leaving mom & pop-type tenants. Owned and operated by Loews Cineplex, the Crossroads Cinema was shuttered on June 17, 2000.

A major redevelopment was conceived. As a prerequisite, the LDS Church purchased CROSSROADS PLAZA in September 2003. Plans for CITY CREEK CENTER were formally announced on October 3, 2006. The project would be developed by a joint venture of Property Reserve, Incorporated (a subsidiary of the LDS Church) and Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based Taubman Centers.

The New Urbanism-style, mixed-use facility was to be open-air in configuration. There would be 6 acres of green space, tree-lined walkways, a winding creek, 300 residential units and over 500,000 square feet of retail. This would all be built over a large, underground parking structure, with connections to previously-existing -and newly-built- office towers.

Mervyn's at CROSSROADS PLAZA closed, along with all Utah stores, in March 2006. The mall's two remaining inline stores, Mariposa Clothing and Ypsilon, were out of business by December 2006. Nordstrom went dark on January 20, 2007.

Macy's at ZCMI CENTER was shuttered on February 3, 2007. The circa-1876 cast iron facade of the ZCMI store would be restored, as it had been during the 1970s construction of ZCMI CENTER. Meanwhile, the final operational stores -Mr. Mac men's wear and the Deseret Book Company- closed for good on July 29, 2007. The food court went dark on October 6, 2008.

Demolition had begun at the northwest corner of CROSSROADS PLAZA in late 2006. By late 2007, the wrecking ball was tearing away at ZCMI CENTER MALL. In January 2007, it had been announced that Dillard's would be a third anchor of CITY CREEK CENTER. Eventually, the Arkansas-based retailer pulled out of the project.

The underground parking garage at CITY CREEK CENTER was completed in June 2011. An official grand opening of the 1.5 billion dollar complex was held on March 22, 2012. The 136-year-old cast iron ZCMI facade had been installed on the front of a new 3-level (150,000 square foot) Macy's. A 2-level (124,000 square foot) Nordstrom also anchored the shopping hub.

Charter tenants included Forever 21, Lush, Yankee Candle Company, 77 Kids by American Eagle, Michael Kors, Love Culture, Tiffany & Company and The Cheesecake Factory. In December of 2020, Taubman Centers merged with the Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group.

Sources:

The Salt Lake City Tribune
The Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
http://www.utahstories.com
https://www.cinematour.com
http://geology.utah.gov
https://apps.saltlakecounty.gov / Salt Lake County tax assessor website
http://www.zcs.com / Zion Securities Corporation
https://utahtheaters.info
https://www.foulgerpratt.com / Foulger-Pratt Companies (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.rideuta.com / Utah Transit Authority
http://www.downtownrising.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.thedowntownmalls.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
"ZCMI Center Mall," "Crossroads Plaza (Salt Lake City)" and "City Creek Center" articles on Wikipedia