From a vision six years ago to a reality today

 

The new medical clinic due to be completed by year’s end, is a result of an ongoing project that started over six years ago when the community initiated a revitalization project involving three sites along mainstreet - Rattray Hall, the Johnson building as well as the former Ahren’s service station. Project organizers solicited public input to help local leaders plan for the future of downtown Ogden.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) helped to initiate the project in 2009 with assistance in assessing and addressing the environmental conditions and developing a reuse plan for the site. David Doyle, Sustainable Communities Coordinator with the EPA, was in Ogden last Wednesday to follow up on the project and as he said, “to see how their investment paid off.”

Doyle said that the Brownfield redevelopment and land revitalization project that was initially intended to help local communities redevelop old gas station sites along the Lincoln Highway and former Route 66, two of the historic highways going through his four-state region. He found 218 abandoned stations existing in 115 different communities along the highways. The former station at 1st and Walnut in Ogden was among them.

“Many of these sites  are located in communities that had been bypassed by the Interstate Highway system and as  a result, many were suffering economically,” said Doyle. “We believed we could help the local economy as well as address any environmental issues at the sites by providing such assistance.”

For the full article see this week's edition of the Ogden Reporter.

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