Once a Public Square, Always a Public Square?

There is an interesting dispute going on in Salt Lake City, as reported here and here. It involves a once-public park in downtown Salt Lake which the city recently sold to the Mormon church. The church has restricted access to the park, as private landowners generally have a right to do. But the ACLU has sued, arguing that the city's action in selling the land (for really cheap, IIRC) is a legal trick designed to let the church accomplish as a private landowner what the city could not as a public one. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.