Top stories of the 2024: A year of milestones and long-awaited announcements
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- Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski speaks ahead of the arrival of Breeze Airways’ first flight from Santa Ana, California, to Ogden-Hinckley Airport on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024.
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- Snowbasin Resort officials meet with representatives from the International Olympic Committee in April 2024 to discuss the site’s use as part of the 2034 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics bid.
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- The newly built Layton Utah Temple is seen during a press briefing on Monday, April 15, 2024. The temple will be open to the public from Friday, April 19, 2024, through June 1, with a dedication ceremony June 16.
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- Workers with Two Men and a Truck assist in moving furniture and other items from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah’s former building on Park Boulevard to its temporary headquarters on Washington Boulevard on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
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- The south side of the Union Station building in Ogden, photographed Monday, Jan. 29, 2024.
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- Ogden School Board member Stacy Bernal speaks at a “funeral” for shuttered cultural centers at Weber State University on Dec. 4, 2024.
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- A panoramic view of the interchange between the then-under construction West Davis Highway and Interstate 15 in Farmington, pictured Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023.
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- An election worker cleans a tabulation machine at the Weber County Center on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
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- A portion of the West Weber Inland Port project area, near 900 S. 8300 West, photographed Monday, May 20, 2024.
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- From left, Ogden City Council members Richard Hyer, Dave Graf, Shaun Myers and Mayor Ben Nadolski pose before being administered the oath of office on inauguration day, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.
Twelve months, 365 days … 525,600 minutes. There are many ways to measure a year.
We at the Standard-Examiner are offering one more option, as we present a recap of 10 top news stories from 2024.
Happy 100th!
It was a year of anniversaries in downtown Ogden as two of the city’s most iconic structures celebrated 100 years of existence. Namely, the Union Station building located at the intersection of Historic 25th Street and Wall Avenue and Peery’s Egyptian Theater on Washington Boulevard, both of which opened their doors for the first time in 1924. Their respective centennial anniversaries were recognized through a litany of community events. Union Station’s celebration calendar was especially robust as time capsules were removed/placed and key milestones were marked throughout the year.
The construction of the first permanent, large-scale Union Station building in Ogden predated that of the current structure by more than two decades. However, a newer terminal — designed by famed architects John and Donald Parkinson — was built when the previous station’s interior was badly damaged by fire. Meanwhile, Peery’s Egyptian Theater was built on the ashes of the old Arlington Hotel and it quickly became one of the region’s great movie palaces. As the threat of demolition loomed toward the latter part of the 20th century, the community rallied to preserve the building, which now functions in tandem with the Ogden Eccles Conference Center as a state-of-the-art event space and art/performance venue.
An election to remember
On Nov. 5, Weber County residents took to the polls in droves for the general election. While the majority of voters cast their ballots by mail, several thousand residents voted in person on Election Day at the Weber County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall. Weber County Clerk/Auditor Ricky Hatch told the Standard-Examiner last month that some 114,612 votes were counted in total, which represents a voter turnout of 85%. President-elect Donald Trump captured 59.5% of the Weber County vote for U.S. president, while Vice President Kamala Harris was the choice of 36.3% of voters.
In Utah House District 10, which encompasses southern Ogden, part of South Ogden, northern Washington Terrace and northern Riverdale, outgoing Rep. Rosemary Lesser lost to Republican challenger Jill Koford by a mere 309 votes. The district had been represented by a Democrat since 2019. Meanwhile, residents of the upper valley voted overwhelmingly to incorporate the area of eastern Weber County including the Eden, Liberty and Wolf Creek areas and parts of Nordic Valley, using the name Ogden Valley. Proponents of the move believe incorporation will give local residents and officials a greater level of authority over land use and future development in the area.
Hittin’ the highway
The West Davis Highway became a reality at the beginning of 2024 following almost three years of construction and decades of dreaming.
State Route 177 — known as the West Davis Highway — opened its initial 16 miles of four-lane highway from Interstate 15 in Farmington to Syracuse on Jan. 6, a full six months early. The highway’s construction also included bike trails connecting the Emigration and Legacy Parkway trail systems.
In July, the Utah Department of Transportation announced that work would begin on a 2.5-mile extension of the highway to West Point as well as trail extensions in 2025. This work is expected to be completed in 2027.
Long-term plans are to extend the highway through Weber County, where it will eventually rejoin I-15. However, neither an exact route through Weber County nor a timeline for this addition has been decided at this time.
Rejoice, ye Saints
In April, after years of anticipation, the 195th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened.
That just so happened to be the Layton Utah Temple.
“All of these members were going to Bountiful, which was very crowded all the time,” Elder Kevin R. Duncan, executive director in the church’s Temple Department, told the Standard-Examiner at the time. “This temple will relieve a lot of that crowdedness, and also puts a temple closer to the youth who will serve in the temple as well.”
The temple was officially dedicated in June.
Helpful or harmful?
The Utah Inland Port Authority voted in May to adopt a plan for the development of a satellite port in western Weber County, near the Great Salt Lake. The 9,000-acre project area largely encompasses unincorporated, privately held land that had been zoned for industrial use. For Weber County officials, the inland port project brings hopes of opportunities for economic growth, additional tax revenue and the development of much-needed infrastructure as they brace for an expected population surge in the area.
However, some area residents, environmental advocates and others have expressed a myriad of concerns about the project and its potential impact on the lake, the landscape, and local human and wildlife populations. Standing out among the issues that have been raised are concerns about the destruction of wetlands and migratory bird habitat, the pollution of air and water from industrial activity, increased traffic on 1200 South and other local roads, and the possible presence of Native American cultural resources within the project area.
On the mend
In 2023, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah needed rescuing.
In 2024, the WRCNU was able to get back to the business of rescuing wildlife in a temporary facility while looking to a brighter future.
After being served an eviction notice in 2023 to facilitate a planned expansion of the adjacent George S. EcclesDinosaur Park, the center completed a move from its former facility to a temporary home on Washington Boulevard on the north side of Ogden. While the WRCNU left its former home in March, several more weeks of work were needed on the temporary facility, which WRCNU Executive Director DaLyn Marthaler dubbed “Pandora” as volunteers continually discovered issues with the building that needed to be addressed.
However, in October, “Pandora” was able to be opened to facilitate the WRCNU’s mission of rehabbing animals, though with some limitations.
“Before, we were able to take in almost any animal up to the size of a beaver,” Marthaler said in October. “Those larger animals and some of the aquatic animals, we won’t be able to get. Things that need pools like ducks and geese. We can do some shore birds, but beaver, otter, ducks, geese are ones we can not do.”
In October, it also was announced that the WRCNU had purchased property along U.S. Highway 89 in Harrisville with the goal of building a permanent facility.
Gold-medal news
A decade from now, thousands of athletes from around the world will converge once again upon the Beehive State for the XXVII Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The International Olympic Committee, or IOC, formally awarded the 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake City, which previously hosted the Games in 2002.
Officials from Weber County’s Snowbasin Resort met with IOC reps in April to discuss the site’s use as an event venue as part of the 2034 Salt Lake City-Utah Winter Olympics bid. Following the successful bid, the resort announced that it would host downhill skiing events during the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Meanwhile, Visit Ogden’s Sara Toliver told the Standard-Examiner this month that the agency is already hard at work preparing the city for the world’s arrival.
DEI downsized
The Utah Legislature made waves in January with the passage of House Bill 261, or the “Equal Opportunity Initiatives.” The legislation, which took effect July 1, prohibits the state’s higher education institutions, the public education system at large and government organizations from considering certain individual characteristics when making decisions about education and employment.
Some students, faculty members and concerned citizens considered the bill an attack on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at local universities, and its impact was apparent locally at Weber State University, where several identity-based cultural centers were closed or canceled. Shuttered centers included the Women’s Center, Black Cultural Center, LGBTQ+ Resource Center, Native American Cultural Center, Hispanic & Latino Cultural Center, Pan-Asian Cultural Center, Pasifika Cultural Center and Nontraditional Student Center.
In their wake, the university established a new Student Success Center to fulfill a similar role on a campuswide scale.
Clear runway ahead
This year was one of turbulence and promise for Ogden-Hinckley Airport.
In February, commercial aviation returned to the airport in the form of Breeze Airways, offering a flight to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, four times per week. Breeze Communications Specialist Ryne Williams told the Standard-Examiner in September that the route has worked well so far.
“We’ve seen great demand out of Ogden,” he said. “It’s been really fun to see a lot of families taking that jump to take a vacation. Obviously, John Wayne-Santa Ana is a family-friendly destination. Lot of great theme parks out there — one that’s especially popular, as we all know. After losing service and us coming in there, we’ve been really pleased to see some great demand.”
But in April, an audit by the Utah Legislature’s Legislative Audit Subcommittee was released, citing several issues with the airport. Problems mentioned in the audit included hangars having no record of a building and code inspection and a lack of proper planning, leading to significant losses of money for the city.
Then, in September, came the arrival of Brian Condie, the new director of Ogden-Hinckley Airport.
“The issues at this airport are at every airport,” Condie told the Standard-Examiner in September. “It’s just a matter of communicating and coming up with the direction of the elected officials, which is to promote and protect light general aviation, promote economic growth and promote commercial service. All three of those are going to function together; that’s my goal. … The airport is going to be a positive, happy place to be and we’re all going to get along in a safe aviation community.”
A new administration
Just over a year after being elected, Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski is about to cross an important milestone — the end of his first year in office.
“As we embark on a new future together, change can sometimes be uncomfortable,” Nadolski said as he was sworn in Jan. 2. “To our staff that are in the crowd, to our staff that are in this building — 650 dedicated, committed, talented employees who serve this city every single day — I know that you feel uncertainty. I know that it can be scary to see change happen. But I invite you to embrace change with me. Embrace this opportunity to grow together and be better together in all that we do.”
Nadolski has had a busy first year that has included actions and proposals on changing the culture of city government, tweaks to zoning regulations to reprioritize where housing should be constructed, overseeing changes to the Ogden Police Department’s officer evaluation system and reevaluating a plan to implement paid parking in downtown Ogden.
