Anyone want to lay odds on whether a groundbreaking will occur for this project prior to Godfrey's departure from the mayoral office in January 2012?
Whoa, people! Seems like only yesterday that the Godfrey administration was crowing about the selection of Marina del Rey-based Lee Homes as developer for the moribund Ogden River project; and now we learn from the Standard-Examiner this morning that this once highly-touted California company is out on its ear:
Anyone want to lay odds on whether a groundbreaking will occur for this project prior to Godfrey's departure from the mayor's office in January 2012?
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42 comments:
Oooops. Back to the drawing board.
Again.
But perhaps the Godfrey administration, which is adding luster to its credentials as having the worst business judgment of any Mayoral administration in Utah with every passing day, has learned a wee bit of caution after eight years of "back to the drawing board" on project after project. We don't have this time the Mayor expressing his confidence in Mr. Lesham and the next developer in line. Nor does this story have Mr. Christopulos offering glowing predictions of stunning success this time fer sure. Nor does the story report Pureheart Paterson, Mayor Godfrey's CAO, denouncing those who may be just a tad skeptical as "naysayers." Imagine that.
Meanwhile, Ogden continues its reign as the Downtown Vacant Lot Capital of Northern Utah.
Wonder if this Millrock Development company's ownership is related to Chris Peterson?
The Godfrey Administration has been very quite of late. Maybe they have already left town to avoid going to jail? Maybe they are busy hiding 11 1/2 years of secret documents and deals that show just how honest and fair they have been? Maybe they are setting up their puppets to take the fall after they are gone? Whatever it is, it's like they're not there and that's nice!
WE'RE DOOMED!!
js,
BB
Look on the bright side.
We have a lot of open space downtown. To be honest, I like it. Perhaps Godfrey should be touting how much open space his catastrophic policies have created. Throw some grass seed on it and plant some low water flora, and call it good.
There are always two sides to every coin. Godfrey could choose the side to put on his resume that makes him look good regardless, and I'm sure he will.
Danny:
I've been suggesting for years that as the city and developers dithered, and nothing happened, it might be a good idea to have the city parks dept lease the land, short term, for a token sum --- and giving the contortions the city went through to help Mr. Lesham and associates get the land, a token sum should have been easy to arrange --- put in grass and set up half a dozen soccer fields. If the idea was to bring people downtown, in the spring, summer and fall, on Saturdays at least, kids, parents, players coming down for games would have done that.
Who knows, with all those folks in the area every weekend, looking for a close by place to celebrate a win or take the edge of the disappointment of defeat, Peleton's might have made it.
But no. We got years of vacant lots instead.
Very funny, Rudi. I'll assume you'll be suggesting that we all click on the Anne Coulter Google Ads, right?
Repent from your Republican ways, Rudi!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Curm,
Awww. Peloton's went bust? Darn.
That's what happens. Once the subsidies (overt and less obvious) end, the government projects often cave. It takes nature to create an environment, natural or economic. You can't do it with central planning by bureaucrats.
It doesn't surprise me. I hope Rickebacker's and Sonora Grill make it. Plus I like that outdoor shop on Washington, and the Black and Decker store, as well as that potato place.
But I suspect most of them won't. Godfrey's legacy will be a city economically much as it was when he found it, just deeper in debt.
Danny:
I went River Parkway walking about five weeks ago of a sunny [it seemed] spring morning, and it was closed up. Sign said under renovation. Another WCF poster said it'd been closed for the previous five months or so. Didn't look good.
I suspect the problem was that it was orphaned out there by the river acres of vacant lots separated from much of anything else. When it opened, I imagine the owners anticipated [as Hizzonah's tub thumpers were promising ] acres upon accres of condos, apartments, garden homes, small shoppes to spring up all around him, providing customers in large numbers living but yards away. Never happened.
I liked the place. Used to stop by for coffee/snack when Stupid Dog and I were walking the river. Did the occasional breakfast and lunch as well. Only place in town to get beignets. Miss it. Maybe it'll be renovated and reopen when this ##@#!$%%#! spring finally gets here and the river walking/biking season begins in earnest. Hope so.
Curm....
Funny, I've heard a lot of people bemoaning the late arrival of spring this year. I remember one summer, when neither spring or summer came. No tomatoes, no peppers, nothing. Even the seasons are not guaranteed.
We see these Godfreyista places come and go. We grow to like some. The point is, you can't grow blueberries in Utah. They just don't grow here.
But some things do grow here. You have to work with nature. But Godfrey never did. He'd see something in a magazine and decide Ogden should do that. With enough taxpayer money he could make anything happen for awhile.
But at what a cost. 21st Street Pond . . . gone for nothing. The "executive terminal" at the airport sucking taxpayer money. Salomon Center black hole. Years of acrimony and angst. $100 million in debt. Money losing deals everywhere and as many or more empty buildings as ever.
Yeah, we will miss the beignets. But to last, it has to come naturally, organically. And think of all the things that MIGHT have been, had they not been crowded out by Godfrey's central planning.
Rickenbackers shut down this week....
Well Dang again!
I was going to go to Rickenbacker's on Friday! That was a really classy place, and reasonable prices for lunch. But like I have been saying, it has to spring up organically to survive.
Man, Godfreyland is falling apart at the seams.
It looks like Ozboy was right. Godfrey got to stay long enough to pilot his plane into its inevitable destination .... the water.
Stay with us, Sonora Grill. Red Iguana is great, but I don't want to drive to SLC all the time.
Oh, and let's not forget Doolittle's deli - gone for some time now.
Maybe Dan S. needs to do another article ... Godfreyism going bust.
Nature always wins. It will win nationally too, just watch. Hubris always makes you pay, whether you are Godfrey, or our corrupt national corporate and political leaders, she always makes you pay. It's just a question of when. It was fun while it lasted. It will be fun to see what takes the place of the passing corrupt paradigm.
Oh, and now I see Sonora Grill has gotten rid of their best promotions. Great. I guess I'll have to rediscover Arby's. Sheesh.
I was on Washington last week at the Junction. All those new storefronts .... the ones that look like they're trying to be Downtown Disney .... almost all empty. All brand new... never occupied. I'll bet Godfrey is counting the days he can leave and blame somebody else for the disasters he has created.
My wife said Pelotons changed their menu to a mainly deep fried item menu. She went in for a fresh sandwich a while back and was disappointed, and left never to return. Sounds like others did the same.
Too bad.
Peloton's website is still up, but the last calendar event listed is August 2009.
Well..I was there prob "at least" 3months ago and it was closed for renovation. @ this point it doesn't sound like it'c coming back. That's too bad..decent pizza and good beer on the patio will be missed. And now Rickenbackers too???? That was a great place to hit on a clear evening just before sunset. Brought many a visitor in from out of town to see the Wasatch Front Alpen Glow through the expansive windows over dinner with a beer and a darn good creme brulee to close the visit. I take no solice in the fact that Godfreyville is crumbling...BTW SMC...great legs!!..never would have thought that looking at your old avatar pic. Your wife is a lucky woman!
Ah... two eateries have gone under. The restaurant business is notoriously hard on start-ups with a very high failure rate. It's a tough game. Others in O-Town have opened recently [the newish Italian place on 25th Street and McCool's Public House in the Ben Lomond]. So I don't know that I'd put too much interpretative weight on two eateries closing down, sorry though I am to see them go under.
The thing is Curm, now there's nothing at the executive terminal at the airport, and after the city gave Mel Kemp $1 million for marketing. It's a classy building, but nothing there now.
I wonder if there's still a grill at the old terminal or whether Godfrey's subsidized competition (now gone) drove the grill out of business too.
McCools on 25th was packed on St. Patty's day when friends and I were there. Considering they had only been open for a couple of days and were crushed with people celebrating they did well in the customer service department and the table fare was better well above average. The atmosphere was much more inviting than the faux Irish Pub motifs of the Layton location..which after having seen the real thing put me off to the point were I haven't frequented that establishment for 2 plus years. Ogdens McCools location appears to have a winner on it's hand and is giving nothing up to Layton in this regard. In my estimation the same can be said for the Ogden Roosters vs Laytons. While I never pick Roosters as a first choice myself, If friends decide Roosters is the destination I stipulate that it has to be the 25th Street location or nothing for no other reason than atmosphere.
The ben lomond location will be fine, as long as the owners do not use it as their personal piggy bank.
the previous two bars located there were ran exclusively as places to fail, while taking home off-the-books cash every night at close.
I just watched Channel 5 news and they reported that Superman (cartoon) had visited Ogden at the request of a young man. When asked why he wanted Superman to come to Ogden, he said, "There has been some good things happening in Ogden, but there are some pretty bad things happening also. I just thought maybe Superman could help with them."
There's your chuckle for the day, folks.
I thought it was just we WCF posters who saw and knew of the bad things that were going on in Ogden, but looks like even a young person was aware of it, and now thanks to Channel 5 a whole lot more people are aware of it.
Did the kid say what the bad things are that Superman might help us with?
Maybe it was those Weber Country Forum posters the kid thought was the bad things he was looking for some help with?
Clark:
My guess would be gang stories. But it's only a guess.
It could be the underhanded deals our mayor makes behind closed doors as mentioned in a previous thread by David Smith and Dorrene Jeske or forcing expensive toys for the mayor and his FOMs at the Junction, etc. Come on admiit there are a lot of things in Ogden that need fixin'.
In other news, our police chief is inexplicably opposed to giving residents a safe way to dispose of prescription drugs:
Ogden chief: Toss, flush unused pills — don’t drop them with me
SE has a story up this morning on the closing of Rickenbakers and Pelotons. Link here.
Dan,
You are probably aware that the water table is being polluted with the thousands of non-biodegradable and still bio-active organic compounds found in flushed medicines. These are entering our tap water, and this is not good. Do you want to drink birth control pills?
Rachel,
Sounds like you have me mixed up with Chief Greiner. I can assure you that we don't look at all alike.
How much money did the Kemps give to the mayors election campaign funds? Standard mentions a Jeff Kemp as part owner, what tax credit did they receive from the city to open up?
How is Golds gym doing in the junction, ifly busy, how about the climbing wall and surf rider. Is it true the city owns the gym equipment and leases it back to Golds?
Did the citizens every get a real cost for building the Junction, and what about the lease agreements are they sweetheart deals or actual good business deals for the city?
UQ: The full list of Godfrey's 2007 campaign contributors is here.
A summary of the Junction's finances is here and here.
Yes, I'm pretty sure that the city owns the equipment in the Salomon Center, and that use of the equipment is part of the lease agreement.
@Rachel
What Dan S said:
Chief Greiner is a LOT rounder than Dan and has a LOT less hair on his head.
js,
BB
Yeah, Griener is one of those aging meat-heads who had to be told repeatedly to not pour used motor oil into a "hole" in the back yard, saying it aint the feds business...
He doesnt understand that on a small planet there is no "away" to where you can flush your filth.
I am guessing he is a Republican; they seem to resist common sense and current science, choosing instead waste and greed.
“If we save one kid’s life, it’s worth it,” said a Morgan County Cop.
Unfortunately a sentiment not shared by Ogden's Police Chief who appears to not give a damn about the safety or lives of the city's citizens.
Aw, c'mon Marion, give the guy a break. It takes a lot of time to figure out how best to invest his full time retirement check and his full time pay check for the job he retired from and was reappointed to by the Mayor, and then he's got to reserve more time for the city-paid attorneys defending him against charges that he violated the Hatch Act when he was drawing a third check [retired police chief, sitting police chief, and state legislator]. He just does't have time to worry about little nthings like the public good. Cut the guy some slack....
Rachel and Biker Babe,
Besides physical differences between Greiner and Dan, there are big philosophical differences, i.e.. Dan cares about the planet we live on and works to keep it as close to its natural condition as a person can, Dan cares about people and works toward making life better for all individuals and Dan is brilliant! He is nice, considerate and a humble man. By that I mean he is not full of himself and conceited, thinking he is betteer than or above others.
SS, when the Salomon Center was built, it had all the equipment installed that Nielsen needed for Gold's Gym -- this at taxpayer expense! I had never heard of such a thing before. Fat Cats and Nielsen got sweetheart deals on the amount they were to pay on their leases -- one of the reasons that the taxpayers are paying between $750,000. and a million dollars annually on the Salomon Center.
BTW, SS, Greiner is a Republican, but not all Republicans are arrogant imbicils -- just those who take free reign and forget why they were elected.
At this point in time, could anyone explain WHY they would continue to identify as a Republican?
The statistics on what your average Republican today believes to be hard fact make the wing-nut 911truth people look balanced and reasonable. Well, almost.
The entire party seems to be descending into a Eagle Forum (the church lady)-John Birch Society (racists)-Luddite (flat-earther)-Birther and AntiFed looney bin.
I mean, the Democrats have their share of bad bills, ridiculous platform statements, and unethical behavior.
But, Republican? Why? Because they are still anti-hippie?
Democrats hate success.
Democrats hate productivity, lest production be outsourced to someplace their beloved power can’t go. And Democrats also hate us none-too-productive drones in our cubicles or behind the counters of our service economy jobs. Tax us as hard as they will, we modest earners don’t generate enough government revenue to dress and adorn the power that Democrats worship.
Democrats hate stay-at-home spouses, no matter what gender or gender preference. Democratic advocacy for feminism, gay marriage, children’s rights, and “reproductive choice” is simply a way to invade -power’s little realm of domestic private life and bring it under the domination of Democrats.
Democrats hate immigrants. Immigrants can’t stay illegal because illegality puts immigrants outside the legal monopoly on force. But immigrants can’t become legal either. They’d prosper and vote Republican.
Democrats hate America being a world power because world power gives power to the nation instead of to Democrats.
And Democrats hate the military, of course. Soldiers set a bad example. Here are men and women who possess what, if they chose, could be complete control over power. Yet they treat power with honor and respect. Members of the armed forces fight not to seize power for themselves but to ensure that power can bestow its favors upon all Americans.
This is not an election on November 2. This is a restraining order. Power has been trapped, abused and exploited by Democrats. Go to the ballot box and put an end to this abusive relationship.
Griener has reduced crime, always told the truth and never went after anyone with vengence.
#Not Intended To Be A Factual Statement
logan
I believe your above comment is the most stupid I have ever seen on this site!
Logan:
I pray for your sorry hateful soul.
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