OGDEN — Large mansion homes along the Ogden River? They could be coming, and the city says they would help clean up what has been one of the city’s rougher areas.Read up, folks:
The city council last week approved a city real estate purchase of 4.16 acres at 1810 Gibson Ave. The Ogden City Redevelopment Agency bought the land from Richard L. Christiansen and paid $425,000 for it.
The parcel of land could be the starting point for a large residential development of about 10 acres along the northwestern end of the Ogden River.
As of now, the city is calling the development “Gibson Grove,” and it would feature town homes, condos and several “mansion homes” that would be tucked away at the end of a private road with immediate connection to the Ogden River Parkway.
The plan currently calls for 48 condos, 39 town homes and five mansions.
And here's the kicker:
On the very site of what could eventually be Gibson Grove sits an abandoned building that provides shelter to transients. Ogden Police Officer Kevin Mann said he finds transients illegally camping out in the building on a weekly basis."An abandoned building that provides shelter to transients?" S-E reporter Mitch Shaw said a "real mouthful" there, wethinks. In this connection, check out this illuminating video from and earlier S-E story on this Gibson Avenue topic:
Brandon Cooper, deputy manager for Ogden’s economic development department, said the city is currently exploring options to raze the building.
Added Bonus: From last week's RDA packet, we've gleaned this image, which preasumably provides a preview of what these proposed Gibson Grove "mansions" will look like, within walking distance of the newly remodeled Ogden LDS Temple:
While we suppose we could all quibble about the architectural aesthetics, we believe we can all agree that it's a heckuva lot better than the structure which is presently in place, right?
The primary raison d'etre for the Ogden Redevelopment Agency is to "encourage private investment in blighted areas of the community;" and Mayor Caldwell and the Ogden RDA are thus clearly "on mission" with this project, we believe. In contrast with certain other misguided Ogden RDA projects which have been clearly "off mission," Weber County Forum is delighted to give this project a giant "thumbs-up."
So what about it, O Gentle Ones? Is there anyone among our collection of Ogden political wonks who will argue that Ogden City ought not pursue this project at full throttle?
