The mall, constructed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sparked criticism and controversy at the time of inception. Now that the initial controversy surrounding its construction has faded, it is a better time than ever to assess the subtext of its creation by the destruction of what once stood on the same land: the first Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution.
When the beliefs of the LDS Church are understood in their proper cultural and theological context, the existence of City Creek Center makes sense and criticisms of it are misguided.
For a brief period, Utah was a true “theodemocracy," meaning that the faithful that sustained the church also sustained its governance of temporal affairs.