Ogden to decide fate of center

OGDEN (AP) — The fate of a recreation center that the city's mayor says is critical to revitalizing downtown will be decided by the City Council today.

The "high-adventure" center would be paid for with $18 million in bonds and be built on the site of a demolished mall. Mayor Matthew Godfrey calls it a pivotal part of efforts to remake downtown Ogden, where the streets — except for the increasingly vibrant 25th Street — are lined with empty shops.

Earlier this month, voters rejected the four City Council candidates — including two incumbents — who support the recreation center. That gives the new council, which takes office in January, a majority that opposes Godfrey's plan. But they're powerless to stop today's vote.

If the center is voted down, Godfrey says, the city will lose out on the millions it spent to buy and demolish the old Ogden City Mall, and it would miss the opportunity to partner with The Boyer Co. to replace the failed mall with shops, restaurants, offices, apartments and an 11-theater-and-restaurant complex that will be owned by Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller.

Boyer President Steve Ostler agrees his company will go away if the recreation center does not happen.

Ostler says it will take the recreation center, cinemas and the Treehouse Museum, already under construction, to create enough "pizazz" to draw regional visitors and turn downtown around.

But Godfrey's opponents say the rec center could become a white elephant that could sap the city's ability to pay for city services. And opponent Mitch Moyes laments that the property tax income from several other redevelopment projects could instead have gone for trails, parks or other cultural amenities.

Councilman-elect Bill Glasmann says he watched support plunge for the rec center when residents learned this fall that the city will be on the financial hook.

While the city will remain the owner of the bulk of the land underlying the 21-acre downtown project, it's not because it wants to be a landlord, Godfrey said. The city will share in the lease revenues from Boyer, which will sublease the shops, restaurants and offices.