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Developer Unveils Plan For New Plaza Where Emporium Stands

The winter version of the new Center Block, featuring an ice skating rink

A skating rink in the winter, a performance stage in the summer, and more downtown housing. It’s all part of the Center Block plan presented to Cache Valley citizens Wednesday. 

Dan Lofgren, a principal developer at Cowboy Partners, presented on his company’s plan for the area where the Emporium now stands, less than a block away from the Logan Tabernacle. 

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but downtown is just going to get busier,” Lofgren said.

Lofgren showed off the plan which includes a three or four level parking structure, an apartment building with 136 new units, retail space, and a community plaza. He compared the design to Gallivan plaza in Salt Lake City, saying the plan is to host concerts and an ice skating rink, all in an effort to bring more people downtown.

Some community members voiced concern over the newness of the design, saying the design could get old fast, and not in a good way. 

“By you doing this with that modern design, I have a fear that it is going to start taking away Logan’s quaintness," said Darrin Smith, a local Logan historian who has written books on the city’s past.

"If you could reconsider to try and make it look more periodic, I think that would actually help Logan instead of making it lose its feel."

 

Lofgren said the design on the residential space is not finalized, but his group is working to make the design fits with the historic downtown, while also giving it new life.

“I hate fake old — it just never works. So we’re trying to find that transitional period,” Lofgren said.

If the city finalizes a contract with Cowboy Partners, Lofgren says the soonest the project could be finished is 2023.