Logan City officials have announced that the long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for the Downtown Center Block Plaza is slated for 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 23.
LOGAN – The public is invited to the long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for the Downtown Center Block Plaza.
The ceremony will be held Thursday, June 23 at 10 a.m. Members of the public are advised to approach the site of the groundbreaking from the west.
The groundbreaking at 55 North Main Street is another giant step in Mayor Holly Daines’ ambitious plans for the revitalization of downtown Logan.
The future site of the downtown plaza is directly across from the Logan Tabernacle on Main Street. Five buildings of varying ages and historic integrity once occupied that site at 41, 45, 47, 55 and 67 North Main addresses.
Demolition of the old Emporium and adjacent structures to the north began in January.
The structures that remain — historic buildings at 41 and 45 North Main — are slated for a $1.6 million facelift and possible sale to private restaurateurs.
Spindler Construction is now wrapping up demolition and has also been awarded the contract for the construction of the plaza.
New construction will begin immediately following the groundbreaking ceremony.
City officials say that the plaza will serve as a gathering place to draw people downtown with year-round attractions, events and entertainment.
The plaza will feature a mechanical ice-skating rink for winter fun, a stage for performances and a splash pad water feature for summer enjoyment.
They add that plaza amenities will include a fire pit, outdoor seating with shade covers, giant chess boards, games and other activities which will be rotated regularly.
Construction of the Downtown Center Block Plaza is scheduled for completion in December 2022 or early in 2023.
The Emporium was constructed in 1977 to replace an older structure that had housed a JC Penny Co. department store since 1946. That late 1970s remodel had included a complete redesign of the building’s façade and gutting of the structure’s interior to create a mini-mall of about 20 stores.
Built in 1898, the structure at 47 North Main originally housed a harness and saddle shop and later became a jewelry store. It was home to Baugh Jewelry for about three decades ending in the 1970s.
North of the Emporium, the building at 67 North Main was built in 1890 for the City Drug Company. Starting in 1955, Gallenkamp’s Shoes occupied the structure until the late 1970s.
Logan City purchased all of the aforementioned structures between 2016 and 2019, with the original intention of relocating the city library to that site.
Since the alternative plan for the Downtown Center Block Plaza project was approved in spring of 2021, Logan’s Redevelopment Agency has invested more than $4.3 million in the plaza project, including about $1.3 million for the demolition of the Emporium building and adjacent structures to the north; about $2.1 million for construction of the public plaza; around $400,000 for the portable ice rink; and, about $440,000 for construction of an outdoor stage and an administration building.
In fall of 2021, Daines announced that construction costs for the Downtown Center Block Plaza would be defrayed by about $2.1 million in private contributions.