Tourney a potential boost to local economy

Sports is a big money-making business. Players make money, owners make money, and cities make money from hosting sporting events which bring in tourists and additional revenue.

Which is why the city of Ogden, and the Ogden Pickleball Association, is especially excited about the future of hosting a series of nationally-known events on the city’s courts at Mount Ogden Park.

The Dennis Forbes Memorial tournament, along with a coinciding Tournament of Champions, gets under way on Thursday, and the expectations are the tournament will provide a boost to tourist-based revenue streams in the city for the weekend.

Tourism is a large part of Utah’s annual economic production. According to the St. George Area Convention and Tourism Office, Washington County, which hosts events like the St. George Marathon, the Huntsman World Senior Games and an Ironman event, earned nearly $418 million in 2011.

Weber County, according to the Utah Office of Tourism, contributed over $3.5 million in restaurant and hotel taxes in 2012.

Additionally, over 120,000 employees in the state owe their jobs to tourism-related activities.

Thus, holding events can translate into big money for the cities which host them, and the business owners which operate in those cities. Standard Examiner

Lagoon building something 'big'

The skyline at Lagoon is dotted with several high-rise cranes. But park officials say it won’t be until 2014, or perhaps even the 2015 season that something “big” is to arrive.

Lagoon vice president of marketing Dick Andrew declined to reveal any more information about the project for which preliminary construction has begun.

Some of the cranes in the park are also being used to perform standard off-season dissembling and reassembling of rides as part of park maintenance and there are no plans to take any of the rides out of the park.

But what the park will be doing for the 2013 season will be adding two new children’s rides to expand Kiddieland, Andrew said.

For the 2012 season, Lagoon once again topped the 1 million visitor mark, allowing it to have a “pretty level” year compared to other years. But because of the warm autumn Utah experienced last year, Frightmares, its annual Halloween event, did set an attendance best.

The Farmington amusement park, which regularly tops more than 1 million visitors a year, is Davis County’s largest tourist attraction. Standard Examiner

Park City Tells ESPN it is Interested in Hosting Winter X Games

Park City has submitted a letter of interest to ESPN to host the Winter X Games, an early but important
step as the network decides a location for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 events.

Bob Kollar, the director of special events for the Park City Chamber/Bureau, said a letter was submitted
to ESPN by the Friday deadline. ESPN on Dec. 7 is scheduled to name the cities or entities that qualified
to advance to another stage of the process.

The Chamber/Bureau in the last two weeks has held talks with government and resort officials who would
be involved in organizing a Winter X Games. Details have not been discussed publicly.

The Winter X Games have traditionally been held in Aspen, Colo. Park Record

Utah Announces Bid for 2026 Winter Olympics

Utah officials plan to make another bid to hold the Winter Olympics.

Gov. Gary Herbert and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker made the announcement Monday outside the University of Utah stadium, where ceremonies were held for the 2002 Winter Games.

A committee of advisers urged Herbert and Becker to make what could be a longshot bid for the 2026 Winter Games — other U.S. cities could argue it's their turn. Salt Lake faces possible challenges from Denver and the Reno-Tahoe area.

Utah says it can capitalize on the infrastructure left in place from the 2002 Olympics. The Utah games were successful, but Salt Lake was tarnished by scandal.

Utah showered $1 million in cash, gifts and other favors on International Olympic Committee delegates in a scandal that rewrote the rule book for Olympic bids. Herald Journal

Entrepreneurs Buy Powder Mountain to Set Up Startup Community

A conference operator targeting Silicon Valley entrepreneurs said Monday that it has acquired Powder
Mountain, the Eden, Utah-based ski resort, as the new headquarters for its entrepreneurial efforts. The
Summit Series, which runs a series of events aimed at Silicon Valley technology entrepreneurs, said it has
acquired Powder Mountain as the "home base" for the organization, which is headed by Elliott Bisnow.
Financial details of the buy were not announced, however, reports placed the price at around $40M.
Powder Mountain is about 44 miles north of the Salt Lake International Airport, just northeast of Ogden.
The Summit invests in companies, and lists such companies as Warby Parker, Zaarly, Uber, ecomom,
Gobbler, SCribd, and others as portfolio companies. TechRockies

Recreation Outlet Expands, Moves its Ogden Store

Utah-based outdoor retailer Recreation Outlet is moving its downtown Ogden store to 2326 S. Washington Blvd.

A re-opening celebration is set for 9 a.m. on Nov. 8.

The new store is nearly twice as large as the former outlet, and includes a 4,000-square foot bargain basement, company founder Tom Coleman said.

"We are excited to be part of the vibrant downtown Ogden retail scene," Coleman said. "Our success here over the past two years has inspired us to expand. [We] thank everyone for their incredible support of a local Utah company." Salt Lake Tribune

Trail construction projects continues in northern Utah

A partnership with the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) and Weber Pathways has resulted in an IMBA trail designer, Joey Klein, designing a new trail alignment within the RMP power line corridor of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. This design work began in late April and is expected to finish mid-May. Funding is currently in place to begin construction on this new section of trail early this summer. This new trail alignment will parallel the current RMP power line access road, and is being designed as a multi-use trail for hikers, bikers and equestrian.

The Weber River Parkway committee continues to work diligently to create two miles of trail from the south end of the Riverdale City Parkway east to the Uintah Bridge. Because of last year’s spring flooding, it became necessary to relocate the proposed pedestrian bridge site. While this has slowed our progress, we are moving forward with identifying a new location and securing agreements allowing us to build the trail. Once all requirements are met, construction can begin either later this year or next summer when waters have receded.

Weber Pathways is partnering with Weber County and the U.S. Forest Service to complete the Pineview Loop Pathway trail. Weber County is providing its right of way over most of the northern and eastern section of the loop and is the project manager for design and construction. The U.S. Forest Service is working with Weber Pathways to complete the necessary analyses and acquire associated permits to secure the corridor through Forest Service land. In addition, the Forest Service is providing materials for trail and trailhead construction. Weber Pathways

City moves closer to opening high-adventure park on Ogden River

The city is one step closer to opening a high-adventure park that will be part of the Ogden River Restoration project.

On Tuesday night, the Ogden City Redevelopment Agency, which is made up of members of the city council, agreed to transfer land at 153 18th St. to Ogden city.

During this year’s budget discussion, city administrators indicated they wanted the property and options currently owned by the RDA to be transferred to them to complete the park.

Ward Ogden, a senior project coordinator with the city’s planning office, said the administration feels that although the property is in the Ogden River Redevelopment Project Area, park ownership should be under Ogden city.

The first phase of the project, which included cable-rope play structures, three-dimensional swings and swing bridges, was finished in fall 2011.

Phase 2 of the project will add more features — including zip lines, climbing structures and other skill-building apparatuses — to challenge users of all skill levels.

The Ogden River Restoration Project is a mixed-use development scheduled to encompass 60 acres straddling the river from 18th to 20th streets and Washington Boulevard to Wall Avenue. Standard Examiner

Trail improvements outlined

The hills east of Kaysville are about to become more biker-friendly, thanks to a large donation by a local business.

Isaac Pantone of Biker’s Edge, addressed the Kaysville City Council Tuesday, with a plan to donate $30,000 in improvements to East Mountain Wilderness Park.

The improvements will benefit not only cyclists, but runners and horse-back riders, he said. Davis County Clipper

Bountiful/Davis art center gets an upgrade

After more than 50 years displaying the fine arts of Davis County, the Bountiful/Davis Art Center is getting a much-needed upgrade.

Staff are packing up decades’ worth of accumulated treasures in order to move out of the space for about 10 months, said BDAC executive director Emma Dugal. The center will host exhibits at Centerpointe Legacy Theater while crews redo the floors, ceilings, walls and just about every other feature of the building. Art fans can buy a piece of the center’s history at a yard sale this weekend.

The remodel will allow more people access to the building, Dugal said, with a fire suppression system allowing more than 50 people in the basement classroom where programming takes place. There also will be a larger foyer and meeting room for artist receptions, and moveable walls will allow more artists to exhibit.

Painter, Theresa Otteson is particularly excited about the planned hands-on children’s center, which will allow school groups and any other interested kids to come in and create artworks of their own.

Visitors also will be able to get their hands on history in the building’s new addition. The space will provide about 8,000 square feet dedicated to the South Davis History Center, an interactive museum focused on the history of Davis County. Salt Lake Tribune

Gold's Gym opens in Syracuse

Gold's Gym of Northern Utah recently opened a new location at 1792 S. 1000 West in Syracuse. The center has a TRX training facility as well as cardio equipment, free and machine weights, pro shop, and group and personal training. Ogden Standard Examiner

Visitors perk up Weber, Davis county tourism revenues

Tourism tax revenues in Weber and Davis counties are on the rise as the area has become more recognized by travelers and tourists. Weber County experienced a 2.9 percent increase in its tourism tax revenue through Oct. 31. Davis County reports an 8.7 percent overall increase in its tourism tax revenue during the same time period. Tourism tax revenue is generated from a combination of the restaurant tax, transient (hotel) room tax and vehicle lease or car rental tax. Ogden Standard-Examiner

Utah Ski Resorts make infrastructure improvements

The Beehive State’s ski industry continues to add improvements spending millions of dollars in the process.
Association officials estimate that over the last two years there’s has been over a half a billion dollars in infrastructure improvements. All 14 of Utah’s resorts have made some kind of improvement since last season, depending on their budgets.

For example, skiers will see this season:
• Heated seats on The Canyons Orange Bubble chairlift.
• Solitude’s Village now has free Wi-Fi
• Brighton has spent $500,000 on additional snow making equipment.
• Deer Valley has added more snow making guns.
• Snowbird has just completed a major remodel of its Cliff Lodge.
• The Canyons, Powder Mountain, Beaver Mountain Wolf Mountain and Sundance have added more skiable acreage.

Deseret News

Megaplex opens newest theater in Centerville

Davis County can now boast one of the largest IMAX theaters in North America. That theater, featuring more than 600 seats, is one of 14 in the new Megaplex at Legacy Crossing, which opens Friday in a new business development on Centerville’s Parrish Lane on the west side of Interstate 15. Salt Lake Tribune