For years, travelers driving U-276 on their way to Lake Powell would yuk it up to friends as they looked through a weedy parking lot to a ghostly cluster of buildings 12 miles north of the lake.
"It used to be a big joke. `There's Ticaboo. What an investment property.' That's what we'd say," said Allison Nord, who five months ago traded the Salt Lake corporate life for a quiet existence in Ticaboo. The community's new owners believe it is the key to any development in the area known as Bullfrog Basin.Now a colorfully painted landmark, the Ticaboo Lodge - with adjacent cafe, restaurant and store - is open, and a plan to start up a nearby uranium mill has tickled the hopes of residents and the financial vision of investors.
Jack Larsen, president of U.S. Energy of Riverton, Wyo., is the money and inspiration behind the rebirth of Ticaboo, whose population has been as high as 800 and as low as 12.
"If we can get this developed properly, we see big things for this community," Larsen said.
Two years ago, Larsen and his son, Mark, acquired Plateau Resources Ltd. from a Michigan-based energy group for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition turned over virtually all of Ticaboo's assets to the Larsens, who are currently negotiating with the state for land sale rights in the township.
Nord and business partner Kris Schultz own and operate Dejavue Cafe and the Wild Hare Pub and manage all other enterprises for the Larsens.
Opening these businesses was the first step in an elaborate plan for the town that includes firing up the state-of-the-art mill and mine and developing 480 homes, an 18-hole golf course, a 300-unit mobile home park and 1,000-unit boat storage facility.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the process of upgrading the mill's status from standby to operational. "We hope to get it open as early as next year," Jack Larsen said.
With the price of uranium increasing daily, U.S. Energy has a few million dollars into its vision for the community and believes it's a sound investment. "Look what's gone on in St. George," Mark Larsen said. "We've got the same climate, everything. There, you've got no place for people to live."
Nord also believes tourists are anxious for an alternative to services at Lake Powell, where one company runs all concessions. "We're definitely giving Bullfrog a run for their money," Nord said.
Blanding restaurant owner Kim Actonand his brother thought about buying Ticaboo two years ago but didn't. "Now we're kicking ourselves," he said. "Mark my words, Ticaboo will be the next St. George."
Darryl Winters, a 15-year Ticaboo resident, is optimistic about the Larsen's plan. "They built a pool . . . they seem willing to do whatever it takes to get the tourists down here."
Utah's smallest town was built in 1980 around a $56 million uranium extraction mill that closed almost as soon as it opened. Plummeting uranium prices caused Consumers Power Inc., a Michigan electric company, to close the plant. When it fizzled, the surrounding community fizzled with it.
Now, on a sweltering summer day, an eerie silence pervades Ticaboo's residential area, where the "Mobile" part of the Mobile Home Park sign has fallen to a skewed position in the dirt. A crisp wind burns through maturing cottonwoods planted 12 years ago when Consumers had big plans for a community to house mine workers.
Nearby, the gutters, curbs and cul-de-sacs are the skeletal remains of an aborted subdivision where houses were never built. Signs warn an occasional car: "Children at Play" or "Slow" against a weedy and vacant backdrop.
Potential. That's what the expanse shows the Larsens.
Where passers-by see tumbleweeds and dried cow pies amid unplugged fire hydrants and electrical boxes, Larsen sees acreage fully plumbed and outfitted for 96 homes.
He's in touch with several investors interested in developing Ticaboo as soon as Plateau Resources work out some details with the state.
"We're miners," Mark Larsen said. "We're looking for someone else to do most of the development." U.S. Energy, a publicly held company, has another uranium property in Wyoming, a California gold property and real estate ventures in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.