Mayor Holly Daines (center, in blue suit) talks guests including city and county officials through a groundbreaking ceremony for Logan long-awaited Center Block Plaza on Thursday.
LOGAN – The long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for the Downtown Center Block Plaza took place on Thursday morning.
Mayor Holly Daines took advantage of the ceremony to thank the members of the Municipal Council, the city’s staff and generous donors for their support of the project.
Those donors’ gifts now total $2.2 million.
Those donations include $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.
The 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 Ellyn “Kookie” Tanner, the widow of Bruce Tanner, the founder of Campbell Scientific; and $50,000 from the Measom Family Foundation.
The groundbreaking at 55 North Main Street was another giant step in Mayor Holly Daines’ ambitious plans for the revitalization of downtown Logan.
Municipal Council Chair Jeannie F. Simmonds said that it was unusual for a city to have two groundbreaking ceremonies for major projects in a year, much less in the space of just three months.
Simmonds was referring to the previous groundbreaking for the new Logan Library on April 18 in the 200 North block of Main Street. She promised that the library patrons would see breathtaking vistas from the library’s windows.
At a municipal council meeting on Tuesday, Daines said that although the footings for the library structure were in place, a cement shortage in Utah has temporarily delayed further construction.
Since the 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 now-vacant 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.
City officials also requested another redevelopment grant in the amount of nearly $1.6 million for the remodeling of structures adjacent to the proposal plaza to the south at 41 and 45 North Main Street.
After that facelift, Daines said the city officials hope to sell that property to private restaurateurs.
The future site of the downtown plaza is directly across Main Street from the Logan Tabernacle. 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.
Spindler Construction has been awarded the contract for the construction of the plaza.
New construction began immediate 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.
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.