Two interesting items in this morning's Standard-Examiner which we thought to be worthy of note:
1) In the wake of the announcement earlier this week that the Ogden Properties had nixed plans to proceed with its Windsor Hotel development project, one of our gentle readers tipped us off that another prospective buyer was waiting in the wings. This morning's Std-Ex story provides further information about this fascinating development. From this morning's Scott Schwebke story:
OGDEN — An ardent critic of Mayor Matthew Godfrey is expressing an interest in purchasing the beleaguered Windsor Hotel.For those readers who are curious about at least one of Mr. Owens's previous historic rehab projects, be sure to check out Mr. Owens's most-excellent rockmill.com website.
Tom Owens, of Farmington, said he has approached the city council via e-mail about acquiring the hotel at 166 25th Street because of his interest in historic preservation.
“I have a soft spot in my heart for Ogden,” said Owens, who hasn’t visited the Windsor Hotel or developed a formal purchase proposal. [...]
Owens, a former television producer, is a native of Ogden and owns a rental home at 2748 Brinker Ave. His other properties include the historic Richards grist mill as well as an 1860s-era stone house, both in Farmington. [...]
Owens said if he decides to purchase the Windsor, he hopes the city will give him the same “sweetheart” incentive package it provided Ogden Properties.[...]
Owens isn’t confident that Godfrey would sell him the hotel because he’s a vocal critic of the mayor. “Godfrey and me are enemies,” he said.
Owens noted he has a history of having purchase offers for city property rejected. In April 2007, Owens offered to pay $300,000 for about an acre encompassing 2127, 2131 and 2151 Wall Ave.
The RDA instead opted to sell the property to Bootjack LLC, owned by developer Chris Peterson, for $270,000.
2) In a truly stunning bit of Emerald City news, Standard-Examiner editorial page editor Don Porter announces he's leaving the newspaper business, after 23 years on the Std-Ex payroll. Mr. Porter's morning commentary provides the gist:
Today will be tough for me. As you read these words, I will be spending my last hours at the Standard-Examiner — assembling the opinion pages for the weekend and saying good-bye to my friends.We received a private mail last evening informing us that Mr. Porter will be "joining the corporate communications team at Questar Gas in Salt Lake City," and that his replacement will be deputy editor Doug Gibson.
When I walk out the door this afternoon, I will no longer be a newspaperman. I’m changing careers, and will henceforth be the junior member of another company’s corporate communications team — a non-media company. I’m looking forward to the new job with excitement; it’s time for a career change and a new challenge.
We congratulate Mr. Porter on his long and distinguished career in journalism, and extend our best wishes as he embarks upon his new corporate career path.
Mr. Porter's announcement, following closely on the heels of Dave Harmer's announced retirement, thins the ranks of Godfrey apologists by two. Not a bad tally for a single week... we think.
We'll leave it to our gentle readers to let us know the true meaning of all this.
We also extend our apologies for the late posting of this WCF morning article. We've experienced computer hardware problems, which are hopefully now resolved.
