OGDEN — The Ogden City Mall is coming down.
After close to three hours of public comment and talk from city leaders, the Ogden City Council voted 4-3 to demolish the mall.
The city has bids from three contractors for the mall's demolition. The wrecking ball won't hit the building for at least another 30 to 45 days, while workers clean and strip the old mall of junk and possible asbestos.
Talk from residents and council members at Tuesday's meeting centered around whether or not the city needed to have a specific plan in place for the mall area before tearing the mall down.
"The city can walk and chew gum at the same time," said Councilman Rick Safsten. He said because of the time it will take to completely demolish the mall, they have time to plan the area's future while the mall comes down.
The spectre of the failed mall has hung over planning and City Council meetings like a civic Grim Reaper reminding all involved of what might happen if they're not careful in planning the future of downtown Ogden.
After a unanimous decision at last week's City Council meeting to rescind a December vote to save the empty mall, and after two hours of staff questioning at a council work session, the council debated for hours Tuesday night in often spirited discussion before voting to demolish the mall.
The city bought the mall last fall in an attempt to shore up a failing downtown. The sale was completed with the New Year, and the city now has full ownership. The idea has been to replace the mall with a mixed-used business area like Provo's Riverwoods shopping center or The Gateway in Salt Lake City.
Many residents expressed concerns that the city would demolish a building in working condition to build new stores.
Ogden economic development director Stuart Reid said it would simply cost more to remodel the mall than tear it down and start over. He said the city has $10 million to do something with the mall. He said he would rather use the money to tear it down and build a new retail center for Ogden than try to refurbish the old mall.
While most council members want to see the mall come down, some still feel the mayor is moving too fast to get the mall demolished.
Councilwoman Mary Hall suggested the city wait until April to demolish, giving the city time to do some more study to make sure there is absolutely no possible use for the standing mall.
"I find no compelling reason to vote (for demolition) tonight," she said.
Mayor Matthew Godfrey, pleased with the demolition vote, has often been frustrated with the council's slow pacing on the project.
"We've been doing this for two years," Godfrey said. Every expert brought in to study the mall says to tear it down, he said. There's no reason to wait any longer, he added.
Reid said tearing down the mall and starting over would give the city more flexibility in what it can do with that area of downtown.
The city is now dealing with a tight schedule to get the mall down and construction started on the new area. Because of the state's construction season, which ends in November, the city will have to move quickly to get plans in place and construction started.
The city estimates it will take contractors six to eight months to completely tear down and clean up the mall.
E-mail: rrogers@desnews.com