Linda Wardell, the general manager of City Creek Center, said the mall had a 98 percent occupancy rate, with 104 stores, seven restaurants and a 1,000-seat food court. “There was a real pent-up demand for shopping in this market,” Ms. Wardell said. “Some people were already buying from these retailers online and they were eager to come here.”

Convention visitors also have been vital to the mall’s success, providing 25 to 35 percent of its sales, she said. The city benefits from year-round visitors to nearby ski resorts, five national parks and, of course, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she said.

For some, the juxtaposition of the mall and the temple is odd, given the temple’s cultural, historical and spiritual significance for adherents. The temple, the first building planned when the Mormons settled Utah, took 40 years to build, work that required great dedication and sacrifice.

But unlike most shopping centers around the country, religious observance does affect this mall, where the shops, except for the restaurants, are closed on Sundays.

Derek Staffanson, 39, a Mormon and a local resident, said he had mixed feelings about the mall project. “In theory, I find nothing wrong with the idea of a religious institution developing the area,” he said. “Churches have a long history of contributing to the civic amenities of their communities.”

“But in practice, I’m very disappointed with the manner in which the L.D.S. church chose to develop the area, the use to which they put it, and what that implies about the church’s priorities,” Mr. Staffanson said. “If they had really been concerned about the local community and ending the blight, they would have built a mixed-income, mixed-use community, focusing on developing local entrepreneurship, community centers and resources, a playground, more like the true walkable urban communities in Europe. That would have truly revitalized the local community, creating more prosperity for all.

“For this huge sum of money to be spent on an edifice for commerce and conspicuous consumption seems at best misguided.”