A thorough analysis is needed before Weber County pays for helping rebuild the downtown Ogden economy, says an Ogden city management intern.
Scott Neilson, who just completed a two-year internship in the city manager's office, has just finished requirements for a master's degree in public administration from the University of Utah.Neilson's thesis explored downtown Ogden redevelopment projects like the Ogden City Mall and the Ogden Park Hotel. Neilson said he found that these and other past redevelopment projects have failed to produce expected gains in employment and trade.
"There were a lot of promises made that Ogden would become a very retail-oriented community - the shopping center of northern Utah," Neilson said. "I don't think we've seen that happen."
Weber County commissioners plan to vote Wednesday on whether to impose a 1 percent restaurant tax that would help finance construction of a conference, educational and cultural center on the 2400 block of Washington Boulevard.
The idea is to rejuvenate the downtown economy by luring more conference-goers, students and tourists.
"That has been addressed before with 25th Street, the Hilton (now Ogden Park Hotel) and Union Station," Neilson said. "We still need to attract conventions to Union Station. In all the research I've done, that was the reason for that redevelopment area."
Neilson said that if the new conference center is built, the community should not drop its commitment to the 25th Street-Ogden Park-Union Station redevelopment area.