Swift Building Redevelopment Yields Dueling Proposals
Published On: October 21, 2019 Posted by: Jeremy Peterson
The Swift Building, one of Ogden’s last great dilapidated icons from yesteryear, has sat untouched as a toxic waste hoarder’s paradise for decades. But, recent efforts by Ogden City and the EPA to clean up the bloated stockpiles of carcinogenic goo have yielded great results. It was announced recently that the almost 100,000 canisters of chemical mischief housed in the building have been purged from the premises. Its a good day for the property.
With the liability of hazardous waste now gone, developers have started taking a keen eye to the property which sits in the southeast pocket of the Trackline Redevelopment Area.
It was recently reported that the city was in discussions with a development company out of California who wished to purchase the site for $1.7 Million. The idea would be to construct a new aerospace manufacturing facility that paid homage to the Swift Building architecture.
Meanwhile, local businessman and entrepreneur Anthony Marler and partners have been working on a concept since February to save a significant portion of the historic structure by repurposing it into the Ogden Exploratorium.
The fate of either project rests in the hands of the Ogden City Council. The thought of historic preservation and repurposing by local investors appeals to me personally. We will see soon which side prevails.
