This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson recalls sitting down a few years ago with H. David Burton, presiding bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to go over preliminary plans for City Creek.
The mayor plopped his finger down on a feature — the sky bridge over Main Street, which he strongly opposed — and asked, "What is this?"
Burton chuckled. "That's the 'over my dead body' sky bridge," the church executive responded, harkening back to the then-mayor's statement that such a bridge would be built over his lifeless corpse.
The bridge is firmly in place, and City Creek is on track for opening mid-March 2012 as one of Utah's largest-ever commercial real estate projects and one of the most sizable ongoing undertakings in the country.
Burton's sense of humor — "plus his tremendous grasp of very complex details" — during sometimes prickly negotiations between the church and city over downtown issues is what Anderson remembers about the man who will be honored Wednesday night by the Salt Lake Chamber as a "Giant in Our City," the organization's most prestigious business award. The event will be held in the Grand Ballroom of Grand America Hotel.
As presiding bishop, Burton oversees much of the Mormon church's development in its growing portfolio of properties within several blocks of Temple Square and church headquarters.
"What he does is extremely difficult, in my view," said the former mayor. "He's got an enormous portfolio that details tremendous responsibilities. There are so many different interests and pressures [and] expectations by the public."
Burton, who declined to be interviewed for this article, came to the job in 1996. He had been first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric and, prior to that, was secretary to that office. Before working for the LDS Church, he was with Kennecott Copper Corp. and the Utah State Tax Commission.
Like Anderson, Bill Taubman points to Burton's status as a Salt Lake City business leader. Taubman is chief operating officer of Michigan-based Taubman Centers Inc., which will manage City Creek retail operations.
"Like all gifted leaders," Taubman said in an e-mail, "Bishop Burton is not afraid of big ideas and ambitious goals. He combines his enthusiasm for the big ideas with a pragmatic focus on the smaller details that really distinguish a project and make it special.
"My colleagues and I have been impressed with Bishop Burton's ability to approach a multitude of challenges with an open mind, creating clarity out of complexity, and making sound decisions in a timely manner," added Taubman, who will be the keynote speaker for Wednesday night's chamber affair.
Burton's selection as a "Giant in Our City" — the chamber's 32nd selection in the award's 41-year history — was a natural, said Scott Parson, chairman of the chamber's Board of Governors.
The honor is based on "the great work he has done building our community through the charitable work of the LDS Church and also with the construction of City Creek," Parson said.
He also pointed to the support of the church and Burton of the chamber's Downtown Rising initiative, a comprehensive metropolitan makeover that includes a new downtown core.
"The church [with Burton as presiding bishop] has made a significant investment in the reconstruction of downtown," Parson said, "and it is going to be a lasting legacy, not only for Utahns to enjoy but for anyone visiting Salt Lake City."
Anderson recalled legacies of another sort, including the fractious conflict involving Burton and the city over Main Street Plaza, which closed Main Street between South Temple and North Temple streets. The block of roadway was turned over to the church for cash and in exchange for it building a Unity Center on the city's west side.
Anderson wanted free speech retained on the property; the church said no.
"We both wanted to bring peace to the community over this," Anderson said.
"He and I would find matters where our viewpoints converged, but there also was some disagreement. Sometimes, there wasn't compromise, but there was a healthy mutual respect, and we approached our disagreements with a healthy sense of humor."
Past "Giant in Our City" honorees
1970 • Eric C. Aaberg
1972 • Clarence Bamberger
1974 • E.M. Naughton
1977 • John M. and Glenn Wallace
1978 • N. Eldon Tanner
1981 • John W. Gallivan
1982 • George S. Eccles
1984 • Richard A. Van Winkle
1985 • Wendell J. Ashton
1986 • Arch L. Madsen
1987 • B.Z. Kastler
1990 • S. Chris Johnson
1992 • Gov. Calvin L. Rampton
1994 • G. Frank Joklik
1995 • Fred S. Ball
1998 • Kenneth Y. Knight
1999 • Scott S. Parker
2000 • Verl Topham
2001 • Spencer Eccles
2002 • W. Mitt Romney
2003 • Don Cash and Nick Rose
2003 • LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley
2005 • Jon M. Huntsman
2006 • James LeVoy Sorenson
2007 • Larry H. Miller
2008 • William H. Nelson
2009 • Ellis Ivory
2009 • Roger Boyer
2010 • Episcopal Church Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish
Source: The Salt Lake Chamber