(Utah Pulse) After years of planning, the centerpiece to a revamped downtown Salt Lake City is beginning to take shape. The massive City Creek Center, which will stand where two downtown malls used to be, began to take shape in the middle of March.

Natalie Gochnour, Chief Operating Officer of the Salt Lake Chamber, says when it’s finished in 2011, the project will be a “premier mixed use development all of Utah can be proud of.”

And, the project couldn’t come at a better time. As the nation’s economy cools, the downtown reconstruction will continue to provide jobs as the money to pay for the project is already committed. “The project is already planned and permitted,” adds Gochnour. “It’s not just City Creek, it’s also a new high-rise building on Main street called the ‘222 South Main,’ and it’s between 2,000 and 5,000 new housing units slated for construction in the next five years.”

Downtown disruptions have been the norm since the reconstruction project began. Gochnour says that downtown businesses are doing their best to minimize the effect of those disruptions while the reconstruction effort continues. “It’s like remodeling your kitchen,” says Gochnour. “There will be disruptions, but once it’s done, you realize it was all worth it.”

• Listen to an interview with Natalie Gochnour