It wasn’t long ago that downtown Ogden was struggling. You might remember the deteriorating buildings, the overgrown weeds and the vacant storefronts that had come to characterize the city’s commercial core.
But times have changed. A massive redevelopment project has transformed the northern Utah hub into a destination for shopping, entertainment and recreation. Quite a difference from before, when 194 of downtown’s 204 properties were considered “blighted.” Now, people want to be downtown.
With that in mind, we thought you’d enjoy this look back at Ogden’s transformation from Utah Business Magazine. Although the story focuses largely on redevelopment efforts in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah Business devotes considerable space to Ogden’s metamorphosis. Here’s an excerpt from “A Vibrant Main Street Can Bring New Life to a City” by John Coon.
…One of the most intensive and successful downtown revitalization projects in the past decade has taken place in Ogden. In a few short years, Ogden has brought new life into a formerly decaying downtown area with a series of redevelopment projects in designated blighted areas.
Most notable among these redevelopment projects is The Junction, a 20-acre mixed-use development built on the site of the former Ogden City Mall. It features retail shops, restaurants, office space, a movie theater and the Children’s Treehouse Museum. The Junction is anchored by the Salomon Center, a 125,000-square-foot recreational center that draws 7,000 to 8,000 visitors per week and features activities ranging from indoor surfing to indoor skydiving.
The Junction alone averages around 150,000 visitors per month and has helped save several businesses, allowing them to flourish. Along the way, mixed-use developments such as The Junction have given Ogden a new identity as a city that stands in stark contrast to what its reputation was only a couple of decades ago.
“Our identity in the mid-90s was a decayed city that was crime-ridden and nobody would move their businesses here,” says Tom Christopulos, the director of community and economic development for Ogden. “Businesses were moving out. We had lost Thiokol. We had lost nearly every downtown business. It was a mess.”
Ogden created a redevelopment agency and put plans in place back in 1999 to identify blighted areas of the city and revitalize them with redevelopment projects. Total investment since that time has exceeded $1 billion. The bulk of the money has come from private investors.
Christopulos says redeveloping sections of the city has had a direct impact on Ogden emerging as an outdoor destination. Drawing major sports events like the Xterra Championships, the Winter Dew Tour and the Tour of Utah to the city has become much easier.
“If it doesn’t look like it is progressing and moving forward, then people perceive that the community is decaying and they’re not going to invest in a community that’s in decay,” Christopulos says.