Part of a forward trend for downtown, or just a temporary lurch?
By Dan Schroeder
With all the recent election-related news, this blog almost overlooked two interesting items in the Thursday Standard-Examiner.
First was this article in the Business section, describing in more detail than ever before the plans to open three new outdoor equipment shops in downtown Ogden: Recreation Outlet at 2324 Washington; Ogden ROX at 2314 Washington; and G4G Adventure Sports and Gear at 2348 Kiesel. All three are promised to open around mid-November, and should be welcome additions to The Junction and the block just across from it on Washington Blvd.
The article also mentions that a pair of affiliated software companies, DAKCS and PDC4U, have recently relocated from Mount Ogden Plaza (near St. Benedict’s Manor and Mt. Ogden Park) to the new Wells Fargo Building in The Junction. Although this relocation doesn’t appear to be any net gain for Ogden, it does lessen the embarrassment caused by that brand new building being mostly empty and previously attracting only two tenants, both from across the street.
The gradual leasing of empty space in and around The Junction is, of course, good news for downtown Ogden. Let’s hope these latest additions are part of a continuing trend, and not just a temporary forward lurch.
Meanwhile, hidden in the Weber Plus section of Thursday’s paper, at the bottom of the monthly Ogden City advertisement, was another interesting item:
Yes ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Ogden’s rubber-tired faux trolleys will soon be up and running! Regular readers will recall that Mayor Godfrey harassed the Weber Area Council of Governments for several months until they finally relented in August and agreed to fund this demonstration project for one year, signing over $175,400 of transportation sales tax revenue for this purpose. To access this pot of funds, all parties had to agree to call the project a “study”, intended to measure ridership potential for the proposed streetcar between downtown and WSU. I’ve been trying to obtain more information from regional transportation officials about how this “study” will be conducted and what they’re hoping to learn, and will post an update here whenever they answer my inquiries.
For now, however, patrons of downtown Ogden can enjoy the faux trolley ride around Historic 25th Street, Washington Blvd., The Junction, and the Intermodal Hub. The ride will be free, with service every 20 minutes. The northern limit of the route was originally supposed to be 20th Street, but it sounds like that has been changed to 21st or even 22nd. Now let’s see... How long would it take to walk from 22nd Street to 25th?
