Defunct Ogden Exchange building gets new life with renovation
http://www.standard.net/Business/2014/11/02/Formerly-dilapidated-Ogden-Exchange-building-opening
A ghost of West Ogden’s past is set to come back to life.
This week, Ogden City will hold a special open house and ground breaking on blight reduction activities meant to prepare for a new business park on just over 50 acres surrounding the vacant Ogden Exchange Building near the old stockyards in West Ogden.
Cami Orr, Ogden marketing and communications administrator, said the event will include a historical presentation and walking tour through the Exchange Building. Orr said the public is invited to the event, which is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Exchange Building, 600 W. Exchange Road.
The city has been involved in a process to purchase $5.9 million worth of land on just over 50 acres surrounding the Exchange Building since June. Five individual properties are being sought by the city so they can begin a redevelopment project being called the Ogden Business Exchange.
The city is working with an undisclosed developer to build a light-manufacturing, industrial and business park in the area, which city officials say will spearhead growth in an area of Ogden that has been void of any major business activity for years.
The project is included in an economic development project area called the Trackline Economic Development Plan, which was adopted last year by the city council to assist with financing the OBE park.
The plan replaced what was known as the Golden Spike Redevelopment Plan, which was created by the city in 1989 in hopes of enticing new manufacturing and industrial businesses to the area. The project area was created in part because a malt company wanted to bring a large plant to the area, but the project the city anticipated from the malt company never happened, and the plan has stood still for the past 25 years.
The more than 120 acres in the project area was previously used as a stockyard and for livestock exchange, but the area has been underutilized for years. The Exchange Building hasn’t been used in more than 40 years and until recently has resembled a scene out of post-apocalyptic movie with its beaten down, graffiti-covered appearance.
The city has already made visible progress on the outside of the building, removing weeds from the front of the building and removing the broken windows and replacing them with red painted plywood.
The building was designed by famous Ogden-area architect Leslie Simmons Hodgson, whose other work includes historical buildings like Ogden High, the U.S. Forest Service Building and the Ogden Municipal building.
“It’s kind of like a ghost of Ogden’s past that’s just there for years and years,” Orr said. “I think people will be interested in seeing (the inside of the building). Other than some vandalism, it’s pretty much the same as it was years ago.”
Preserving Ogden's History by Envisioning its Future
http://ogdencity.com/en/news/2013New...0Building.aspx
Ogden City, together with the Redevelopment Agency and local and federal partners, is working to achieve the vision of the Ogden Business Exchange, a 51-acre master planned business park located at the historic Ogden Union Stockyards.
To illustrate the vision of the project and to share some of the vast history of the site, a public open house and groundbreaking event for limited blight reduction activity was held on November 5 at 600 W. Exchange Road, Ogden, Utah. An exclusive tour of the Exchange Building was available to those that attended.
Beginning in 1917 and running through the late 1970s, the Ogden Union Stockyards dominated the livestock industry in the west and provided one of the largest economic engines within the city. Over 2.4 million head of sheep, hogs, cattle, and horses made its way through the stockyards in the peak year of 1949, resulting in over $87 million in annual revenue – the equivalent of $1.2 billion in today’s dollars. Adding to this enormous impact were three packing houses, all of which generated vast revenues themselves and added over 150 employees to the already 100 plus employed at the stockyards. The railroad may have helped establish Ogden’s presence as a western hub, but it was the livestock industry and the prominence of the Ogden Union Stockyards that fueled Ogden’s wealth and prosperity.
As the trains gave way to over-the-road trucking and modern efficiencies, the relevancy of the Stockyard dwindled. Sadly, the Ogden Union Stockyards were closed in January 1971. Forty-three years of neglect and decay have left the proud stockyards a ghost of what once was. Standing as a window to the past is the Exchange Building, the original administrative offices of the livestock operation. Constructed in 1931, the Exchange Building reminds us that history is the foundation on which the future is built; an ever-present cry that begs us to rebuild. This time, the glory of the stockyards will not come from cows and sheep, but from technology and industry. And the Exchange Building will be at the center of it all!
The Ogden Business Exchange is designed to be more than a collection of buildings and roads. Its proximity to the Weber River and internal walking/bike paths encourages a connection to the active outdoor recreation lifestyle that abounds in Ogden and its unique layout will embody the history of the site through open space development and preservation of important elements.
The City and Redevelopment Agency are working to secure development funding from local and federal sources.
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