Provo Convention Center Gets Green Light
February 24th, 2009
Local businesses hope the $32 million complex will help revalitize downtown Provo and boost the struggling economy
by Jacob Hodgen
Salt Lake City has had its fair share of horror stories regarding big corporations muscling out local businesses. Entire blocks filled with historic building have been leveled to put in shopping malls and local merchants are routinely crushed en masse under the weight of big box retailers.
However, not all such tales of urban development have sad endings. In Provo, a long-awaited project to revitalize the downtown area is now finally in progress, and it seems to have the support of everyone involved--even the three businesses that are being displaced.
It has been out of the news for several years, but Utah Stories has just confirmed that the massive Provo Convention Center has crossed its final hurdle and is in now in the final stages of planning. Tara Riddle, the Provo City Ombudsman, has confirmed that the final parcel of land has just been purchased and the new Convention center is no longer an issue of "if, " but is now a matter of "how soon."
Utah county has provided the funds to purchase up half of the block just West of the Provo Marriott, where the latest estimates indicate that a $32 million, 80,000 square foot convention center is slated for development. The project will require the demolition of three local businesses. I talked to representatives from each, and they all told me that this was good news.
and moved across the street
The first two acquisitions for Utah county were the properties where a food bank and free health care clinic now stand. A representative from the Mountainland Health Clinic tells me that the move was not optional for them, but that they are being relocated to a new facility in Orem, and they have no complaints. Brent Crane is the CEO of the Food and Care Coalition, which is also being displaced. He says that they had been seeking a larger facility for some time, and that they were more than happy to be able to sell their property to the county. The city has already helped them secure a new site by the East Bay shopping center, and Brent tells me that he couldn't be more pleased, "The city has been very generous in working with us." There have apparently been some concerns with clients of the food bank causing problems for local business owners, but he thinks that a move to the outskirts of the city would alleviate them. The new Food and Care Coalition building will be significantly larger and able to accommodate new housing and education facilities. "It's definitely a win-win scenario for us," he says.
The last holdout was Atchafalaya, which is currently the largest bar in Utah county. I spoke with Wayne Buehler, who works there as a bartender. Though the club has had some bad press in the past--it used to be a controversial strip club--he tells me that the mayor has been very accommodating. With the city's blessing, the bar plans to move across the street to an even larger building. "Business has been bad since September," he says. The current recession has hit them hard, but he confesses that it hasn't been good for them since Geneva Steel went under and they lost their large contingent of blue collar workers. However, with the prospect of hundreds of new clients brought in from the Conference Center and the promise of Governor Huntsman's upcoming revision of the state's notorious liquor laws, Wayne is excited.
the project and the lure of new business
Victor Vu owns a nail salon directly adjacent to where the center will be built, and he is a little nervous. "We don't have any voice at all," he tells me. He wishes that they could keep the historic buildings, but he admits that a new conference center could bring him new clients and remains hesitantly optimistic.
The Convention Center will be right across the street from a Juice and Java store. Jordan is a barista there, and she tells me that she is happy about the news, "Good riddance!" she says about her neighbor while smiling. "Atchafalaya is nothing but trouble!"
The new Convention Center hopes to bring in up to $14 million dollars a year in revenue for the city from 250 additional conventions. In times of economic hardship, this is music to the ears of local merchants.
Click here to view interactive images of the property on Google Maps
David Docter I think that the convention center would be better placed across the street on the block where Zions Bank is and that old movie theater. I want to see the old buildings be saved and turned into a gym and a daycare so that it will bring every day people down there everyday. Atchafalia would make a great daycare. And the Mountain Land building wold make a great place for a city owned gym... This would bring a lot more people downtown then a conventions center.. Tosh The convention center is good news for provo. our little downtown is slowly coming back to life again. with the new 9 story zions bank building, and the 11 story university towers project next door to the 7 story wells fargo center and 10 story nuskin building just a few blocks away, provo is beginning to "grow up" a bit and become more of a central "hub" to utah valley. Reader Comments
