Porter's may be knocked down

LEHI — City leaders will pursue tearing down the landmark Porter's Place restaurant and a pair of adjacent properties, then rebuild Porter's complete with parking.

The city's request for proposals yielded only three, two of which were rejected outright, city economic development director Doug Meldrum said.

The first proposal was to sell all three properties — Porter's, a vacant former pawn shop and an uninhabitable building on the corner of Main and Center — to Rim Rock Construction, which would then revitalize them, Meldrum said. The offer was for $150,000.

The city owns all three buildings.

The second proposal was to sell the building that houses Porter's back to the restaurant's former owner, Robert Trepanier, for $250,000, then tear down the other two for a parking lot. The city would likely own the parking lot, Meldrum said.

Finally, the third proposal, which officials agreed to pursue, was to tear them all down and start from scratch, building a new Porter's Place restaurant and adding parking. That proposal came from Ascent Construction of Centerville. Details are still sketchy regarding costs and ownership, Meldrum said.

Ascent envisions a larger building replacing the three older structures with space for Porter's, offices and possibly residential living above with parking, said Bob Murri, the company's director of marketing.

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