Wednesday, July 24, 2024
The 2034 Olympics could prompt a new round of brownfield development around Utah.
Urban Living
Posted By Babs De Lay on July 24, 2024, 4:00 AM
The buzz this week is about Utah's potential for hosting the 2034 Olympics and the start of the Summer Olympic games. For those of you who weren't around for our 2002 Olympics, they were not only the first to make a profit, but many events (skiing) were held at the highest elevations ever since the first winter games were held in the French Alps 100 years ago.
Salt Lake's then-mayor (Deedee Corradini, deceased) worked with state and local officials to bring the capital city into the 21st century, adding rail transit to the Wasatch Front. She also faced—as administrations had before her—a lack of tax revenue to improve infrastructure in the city.
Tens of thousands of commuters come to the city each day, causing wear and tear on roads and requiring help from police, fire and emergency crews. They then go back home at night to Davis or Utah County. They don't pay property taxes in Salt Lake and back in 2002, the capital city only had around 180,000 residents whose property taxes supported the services offered to both residents and visitors.
No mayor wants to raise taxes, but Corradini and the City Council came up with an idea to make "brownfields" in the downtown area buildable and to shorten the freeway ramps to open space for commercial and residential developments like The Gateway. Along with development come property taxes, which pay for more police, fire, and capital improvements.
Corradini reported to locals that there were 650 acres (one city block is roughly 10 acres) in the Gateway area that could be cleaned up and developed, which would then add tax revenue to city coffers. And voila! Polluted dirt was scraped and hauled and a mall opened in time for the games.
One brownfield site that was cleaned up before Corradini's term is now the home of the Delta Center, which brings in taxes. A "brownfield" is land that has been poisoned with toxic waste and has been cleaned up at sites like Centro Civico, Granton Square, the Swift building, Utah Barrel and Scrap VCP and an old gas station where Spy Hop's building now stands on 900 South.
We have many brownfields in the state, but the EPA has recently granted money to Murray and Spanish Fork to clean up contaminated areas. Spanish Fork will clean up the Express Way Landfill and the Foundry. Murray will use their grant to clean up the slag and mine waste around Creek Pocket Park (near the old Murray smelters) and the Soccer Locker (along Little Cottonwood Creek).
About The Author
Babs De Lay
A full-time broker/owner of Urban Utah Homes and Estates, Babs De Lay serves on the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission. A writer and golfer, you'll find them working as a staff guardian at the Temple at Burning Man each year.
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