LEHI, Utah -- The driving range at Thanksgiving Point is one
step closer to being torn out and developed, but the details of what will go in
its place are changing.
"We have listened to your concerns," said a
representative from the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during
a community meeting on Wednesday night.
Initial plans called for two, four-story, 120,000 square foot
office buildings for the LDS Church. One would house a Family Discovery Center
and the software engineers building for Family Search for the church. The other
office building would be leased out for a profit.
That plan has been scrapped, in part, because of neighbors
complaining that it was destroying their community. Instead, the LDS Church is
proposing to build just one office building, housing family search, and in the
place of the second office building from the original plans, a stake
center--which is a meetinghouse for LDS Church members.
"I think they've done a pretty good job. I think most of
the neighborhood is pretty supportive of what they've done," said Paul
Ross, a neighbor who has been following the development plans since July.
Jared Asbury, another neighbor, is a bit more skeptical. Asbury
is satisfied that the LDS Church is now within the city's development
guidelines, but he thinks the architecture of the building needs to better
match the Thanksgiving Point area.
While aesthetics are debated, everyone agrees traffic is an
issue.
"We realize that the two intersections that currently are
failing need to be solved before any further development can take place,"
said David Paul Jr., an architect for the LDS Church.
He also said the LDS Church will work with the city on improving
infrastructure but stopped short of promising to pay for the improvements.
"They have expressed their desire to merely work with the
city as opposed to pony up the money and the manpower to improve the
infrastructure of their project," Asbury said. "They're going to
build what they can get away with building."
Representatives for the LDS Church say they will build as soon
as the project is permitted, saying construction likely wouldn't start until
after the winter.
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