DEMOLITION DAY: Ogden River Inn Razed for Redevelopment
Published On: June 18, 2019 Posted by: Jeremy Peterson
In a day that couldn’t come soon enough for downtown Ogden, the notorious Ogden River Inn has finally seen its last days as a great assembly hall of despair and hopelessness. Demolition crews began last week tearing the sordid building down in anticipation of redevelopment for a new Mountain America Credit Union building.
The Ogden River Inn was constructed in the late 1970’s to provide lodging for motorists traveling to the city center. Like other establishments built for that same purpose, it steadily fell into decline and decay once Ogden’s economic troubles metastasized through the late 1980’s and 1990’s. After that, it became just another slumlord enterprise among many.
Prior to the demolition, the owner had proposed redeveloping the space into a mixed use structure called the Ogden Riviera. It never came to fruition and the hopeful poster ironically still hangs on the exterior walls as they are coming down.
At the rate of current demolition, the entire structure should be removed from the site by the end of the week.
Brighter days are ahead for downtown Ogden!
