LOGAN – The Carol and Jim Laub Plaza in downtown Logan has been selected as Utah’s outstanding public recreation facility for 2025.
That designation was announced by the Utah Recreation and Parks Association (UPRA) on March 14. The award recognizes achievements in the design and development of public facilities throughout Utah.
With much local fanfare, the Carol and Jim Laub Plaza opened in September of 2023, signaling the achievement of another milestone in Mayor Holly Daines’ ambitious plan for the revitalization of downtown Logan.
Directly across Main Street from the Logan Tabernacle, the old Emporium building and some adjacent structures were demolished in 2022 to make way for the plaza.
The new facility’s amenities included a fire pit, outdoor seating with shade covers, a giant chess board, other games, an outdoor stage, a splash pad for summer and an ice rink during winter months.
Since the plaza was approved in spring of 2021, Logan’s redevelopment agency invested nearly $6 million in the project.
At the plaza’s opening ceremony, Daines also thanked private donors whose contributions helped to defray the escalating costs of the plaza.
Those included $1 million from the Jim and Carol Laub Family Foundation and Cache Valley Electric; a $200,000 donation from the Emma Eccles Jones Foundation; a $250,000 challenge grant pledge from the George S. and Delores Doré Eccles Foundation; a $103,000 donation from Peter and Holly Daines; and a $197,000 gift from the Cache County RAPZ and Visitors Bureau.
More recent contributions included a gift of $100,000 from Apogee Instruments on behalf of founder Bruce Bugbee, his wife Diana West and Apogee’s employee stockholders; a donation of $100,000 from the family of Bert and Kookie Tanner; and $50,000 from the Measom Family Foundation.
At the opening festivities, city officials accurately predicted that the Carol and Jim Laub Plaza would serve as a gathering place to draw Logan residents downtown with year-round attractions, events and entertainment.
Originally founded in 1951, the mission of the Utah Recreation and Parks Association (UPRA) is to actively support and promote the growth, development and preservation of recreation, leisure, parks and natural resources throughout the Beehive State.