Utah Stories June 2023

LAST FARMS STANDING

BEHIND THE STORIES

Al Sacharov

Al Sacharov, seasoned journalist, worked as an English writing teacher in New York after working at three newspapers including the Pittsburgh Press. Al has published four books and written plays.

Wandering into the Utah Stories office in 2012, he asked, “How can I help?”

Al began writing and has been editing for Utah Stories since then, including for a time from Peru.

Kaelyn Korte

Kaelyn was born in North Carolina and lived in California and Minnesota prior to attending Central Michigan University, where she played soccer and earned a degree in Photojournalism. After graduating, she played professional soccer in Chicago, Kazakhstan, and Finland. During off-seasons, she backpacked around Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia, merging her passion for soccer and photojournalism.

She documented her experiences in a travel blog and had her work published in several international magazines. Her stories primarily focused on capturing life in small villages, short stories offered by locals, and personal reflections as she challenged herself in many new and exciting ways, such as a 10-day walking festival in Taiwan, her experiences couch surfing throughout Europe, and hitchhiking across Japan.

After a few years gallivanting around the world, chasing every sunrise and sunset, she returned to the United States to reflect on her next chapter in life. An opportunity to move to Salt Lake City presented itself in 2021 and she has been here ever since, pursuing photography and photojournalism in simpler ways, and playing recreational soccer and gardening in her free time.

Taylor Hartman

Taylor Hartman is an Ogden-based writer who enjoys storytelling in all forms. His work has been featured in numerous Utah publications, winning an SPJ award for his reporting on nursing homes with the Utah Investigative Journalism Project. Taylor’s passion lies in uncovering hidden narratives and shedding light on the unseen. With a background in tourism and journalism, Taylor strives to tell the story of Utah and Utahns from north to south.

Comments in response to the YouTube Video:

A Gondola Up Little Cottonwood Canyon?

Why Not A Gondola To Delicate Arch?

Soli Deogloria

A gondola is the most egregiously atrocious possible possibility. I’d rather see the road widened to two lanes up and two lanes down without question, and add avalanche tunnels to boot. Just like the road from Ouray to Silverton. I remember when Dick Bass wanted a convention center on top of Hidden Peak. He said they do it in the Alps. That may be true, but the Alps encompass five countries.

Comments in response to the YouTube Video: LDS

Corruption, Graft, And Cronyism In Utah

F0x H0nd

You shouldn’t try to draw the line through the homelessness issue between addicts and not. Being an addict shouldn’t disqualify you from basic rights such as shelter. The fact is that both addicts and non- addicts are homeless, so if you want to address homelessness, you need to address a path for rehabilitation, not further enforcement of criminal code targeting vulnerable populations. We pay for their housing in jail too, but jail is geared towards punishment, not rehabilitation, and when most come out, they are not any better equipped to get off the street.

Corrections for the May Issue

1. Our apologies to Amy Anderson of Helper Beer who was misidentified in a photo on page 18 of our May issue.

2. In our previous May issue, we wrote about the incredible job that Jerry DeVincent and Malarie Devincent are doing in restoring Helper’s Main Street. At the end of the story, we also give credit to Gary’s brother. We incorrectly stated his name is Bobby. His name is Billy DeVincent, and he has been an integral part of the work involved in restoring the buildings as well.

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Cash or crops?

The Temptation Of Big Money Causing Farmers To Sell

By Richard Markosian

“The greatest legal creation of wealth the world has ever known” is an apt description of the tech boom that has occurred over the past 24 years, since the advent of our information, social media, and smartphone revolution. The aftermath has been a low-tech land rush. This wealth has been seeking things to buy to preserve its value. Two of the most popular things elites want to buy are land and homes.

Bill Gates is buying massive tracts of land and farms and ranches as is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Gates is now the largest private landholder in the United States. Many other tech billionaires have followed suit, like Tony Hsich, who owned more than a dozen Park

City properties when he died. Utah Stories previously reported on how the last orchard in Alpine, Utah finally sold. Today we report that the last dairy in Summit County has finally sold out as well, which I’ll get back to. So why are billionaires buying land?

Land is an excellent investment and a hedge against inflation due to its inherent scarcity. “They aren’t making any more land,” a Moab real estate speculator told me years ago, “So you might as well buy it while you can.” He certainly knew that a day would soon arrive when most Moab residents would be unable to afford land and homes.

Unlike money in the bank, which the Federal Reserve has inflated (increased

Browns Dairy in Hoytsville, UT has been purchased by Ivory Homes and Larry H. Miller Communitiies and is slated to become a master-planned community similar to Daybreak.

the quantity of) at the behest of our Treasury Department, land is indeed scarce, so land prices steadily climb and keep climbing until farms and ranches are more valuable than all of the money any farmer could ever hope to earn in four lifetimes.

The best farmland in Utah, that was $2,500 per acre ten years ago, can now fetch as much as $100,000 per acre today. If your family farm consists of 5,000 acres for generations, it was not the land that had value, it was the tremendous input of farmers. The best farmers possess great expertise in animal husbandry, botany, tractor repair, fence repair, barn construction, soil tillage, crop rotation and water conservation. The value of the land was only the result of the expertise and labor of the farmers. Today the pile of money that land could fetch for is so enormous it’s unfathomable to most farmers. Why toil? Why sweat? Why farm? Why work if your farm is worth millions? Why not instead just sell and never work another day in your life?

But then what? Generations of the value added to the land due to the expertise of the farmers all die once that farm is sold.

I visited Brown’s Dairy in Hoytsville, Utah, which is just 15 min utes east of Park City. The Browns held on the longest of any dairy in the area because even the third-generation kids valued the hard work of raising Holsteins and producing award-winning milk. But with the enormous property-value increases spreading from neighboring

Heber and Park City, and the land becoming more scarce in those places, the offers were too hard to pass up, and the Browns finally decided to sell out.

I drive around and I see a big home with a huge garage and a speedboat. This is the new McMansion that has attracted so many to the neighboring Heber Valley. I wave to a man who is a builder. He is Preston Tholen, owner of Preston Tholen Construction.

I ask Tholen, “At what point, like a price per acre, does it not make sense to farm anymore?”

“Oh, we reached that point a long time ago. All of the farmers who have hung on do it because they love it … All of them have a job just so they can farm.”

“There are one or two farmers who do it full time, but they have some subsidy too.” Tholan says he moved into the area 26 years ago. He’s building homes mostly for Utahns. “Some of the farmers are subdividing the land for themselves and their families.”

What about all of the people moving in who don’t want to smell the cows?

Tholan says that new owners need to cite an addendum on their closing documents that they “can’t complain about the cows.”

I visited the dairy hoping for an interview, but they have removed phone numbers from their website. I didn’t find anybody on the farm. Likely I missed them because I arrived at lunchtime. I looked around the incredible pasturelands and found a few cows grazing at the feed station.

Preston Tholen has been a home builder in the Coalville area for the past 27 years.

Over the years they built a dozen outbuildings including a big milking barn as well as smaller barns for calves; barns for calving; barns to separate the pregnant milking cows.

Inside the office, I find awards. I knocked and announced my presence, but still couldn’t find anybody. Then I see an old sign, back from the days when most of their business was out of their farm store with their neighbors. The farm towns in Utah once prided themselves on their self sufficiency and adherence to neighbors all doing business and supporting each other.

They likely produced hundreds, if not thousands of gallons of milk per day. But none of this “value added” makes sense anymore because our country has produced wealthy elites who want to bank their money in farms. But does this make sense?

Is anybody pausing to consider that while farms are bucolic, scenic and pastoral, and perhaps fun to build on top of — that farm is producing food? The last time I checked, the tech industry has still not produced a solution for our need for food.

Beyond Meat went beyond bankrupt. It turns out that nobody wants to eat meat grown in a laboratory/factory. Almond milk is a good substitute for cow’s milk, but have you ever tried almond cheese? Some of us still like mozzarella cheese on our pizza, and real yogurt or real cream in our coffee. We need dairy farmers, and we need them locally!

The paradox of tech-boom wealth creation is that as this wealth spreads throughout county seats and towns, and that money has a major impact on

property values in rural economies. It prices farm kids out of having the hope of buying their own land. The net impact is a reduction in real value, rather than an increase. Value is reduced from the perspective of local calories produced and local economic production and farming expertise.

“Wrong!” I know the political leaders/ developers will say. “The tax revenue gain from homes and mansions is so much greater than what any farm could pay back to the city.” Of course this is true. But are communities and families better off without farms? If this were an ultimate truth then wouldn’t it make sense to pave over and build on top of every farm in the United States?

The acreage of the Brown’s Dairy has been sold to Ivory Home builders and Larry H. Miller Communities. They plan to build a master-planned community similar to Daybreak. They plan to preserve much of the open-spaces and offer walkable neighborhoods. This sounds great, but I wish they would also preserve the small-scale dairy. The massive factory-farm dairies compared to the smallscale family dairies is like comparing a locomotive to a bicycle. The workings of small-scale family operations are obvious and visible. Factory farms are like machines using animals as cogs in giant operational wheels.

We rely too much on other countries for our food, just as we are relying too much on Taiwan, Indonesia and China for our microchips. Local farms need to be preserved and the only way to preserve them is to constantly seek them out and support buying from the local farmers markets.

The tax revenue gain from homes and mansions is so much greater than what any farm could pay back to the city.

Farmers markets you may not know about Support Your Local Farmers & Artisans

By Connie Lewis

The Wasatch Front and beyond is home to many and varied farmers markets. There is the old and venerable Downtown Farmers Market at Pioneer Park, Wheeler Sunday Market, and Liberty Park Farmers Market. Not to mention all the markets popping up in cities from Brigham City to Moab. Here are some markets that fly under the radar, but are worth a visit:

9th West Farmers Market

The 9th West Farmers Market has been around since 2005, when it started in the Northwest Recreation Center (then the Northwest Multipurpose Building). Now located near the International Peace Gardens on 1060 S 900 W, the market has evolved into a farmers/artisans market and the only non-profit market in the valley. They were also the first market in the area to provide the use of SNAP to purchase fresh local goods in 2006.

Melanie Schertz describes herself as the chief cook and bottle washer for the

market. She has been the president for the last nine years and she thinks what makes the 9th West Farmers Market special is that “We are a close-knit group, not just during the season but all year-round. We are a family, not just a farmers market.”

Melanie is a volunteer, as are many that work at the market, including all the board members. “You don’t do this year after year if you don’t love it,” she continues. ”We have a very loyal group of customers that come year after year. I might be prejudiced, but we have the most amazing farmers market there is.” Sundays 10am to 2pm, June to mid-October

Layton Fest

Layton Fest is held at the Commons Park, 437 N Wasatch Drive in Layton. It brings together the best of Layton City and Northern Utah. With its long history of farming and ranching, Layton Fest is a great venue to highlight this strong heritage of local farmers, gardeners, and ranchers.

Utah Flower Market Team

This small town open air market is under the supervision of Michele McMillan, Recreation Events Supervisor for Layton. She said they don’t get a lot of farmer participation, but “we bring together the best of Layton and Northern Utah with local food trucks, local entertainment and local vendors. We get a lot of small business owners coming out, and later in the season, community gardeners bring in-season produce to sell.”

Fridays 5:30pm to dusk, June to September

Santaquin’s Pick-Your-Own Apple Harvest

The year starts in the Fall for this pickyour-own apple harvest. The harvest continues every Friday and Saturday from 9am to 7pm, likely starting the first weekend in September and continuing through the first weekend in October.

The varieties of apples change throughout the season as different types of trees ripen. Jace Rowley says, “we start with Honey Crisp and progress from there through Red Delicious, Jonagold, Pink Lady, and Fuji.”

Parking is available at Rowley’s Red Barn, 901 S 300 W, Santaquin, with a short walk to the large tent on the west side of the road to get started. Admission is free and pickers can learn a little about harvesting fruit so that it doesn’t get damaged, and must provide their own boxes and bags. Harvesters pay for the apples they pick.

Rowley feels that they provide a way to get people out and be on the farm. “They can experience fresh fruit from the tree, freshly picked.”

Utah Flower Market 2023

Ready to feed the soul, Utah Flower Mar-

ket held at Grove Station, 273 S 2000 W, Pleasant Grove, this market brings local flower farmers together to offer everything from tulips in the spring to dahlias in the fall. Flowers can be purchased by the bunch, by building your own bouquet, or buying pre-made bouquets. Wednesdays: 9:00-11:00am. Florists and designers only (a wholesale license is required) Public (everyone welcome): 11:30am -1:30pm from now thru October 4

2023 Arts & Ag: A Moab Market

This is a once monthly event held at Swanny City Park, 400 N 100 W, Moab, and sponsored by Moab Arts & Recreation. The market is held on the third Friday of the month from 5pm to dusk through August. The Arts & Ag Market features artisan goods from local, regional, and visiting vendors.

Arts Director Kelley Mcinerney says, “What’s cool about our market is when people come and see how many vendors and entertainers there are in southeast Utah. They are surprised by what is available. We have a lot of food and artisan products.” The market has been around for about four years and was previously called Market on Center. They changed the name to reflect their move to align the market with the free concert and outdoor movie events.

Mcinerney says, “We don’t set up for every event, but we wanted to give the public a chance to shop, eat, listen to music and watch a movie.”

June 16: Market + Family friendly free dark skies activities

July 21: Market + Free Concert Series featuring Nostros

August 18: Market + Free Concert Series featuring Pixie & The Partygrass Boys

The last orchard on orchard drive

Like The Last Peach On The Tree, 3 Squares Produce Is Still Hanging On

By Kelli Christine Case

There was a time when Orchard Drive in Bountiful was aptly named. As Bountiful has grown, orchards have dwindled. If you drive through the area, you’ll see an occasional property with remnants of an old orchard or perhaps a hobby orchard. Today, there’s only one professional orchard still in production. It’s run by Jack Wilbur, owner of 3 Squares Produce, a family farming operation with nine plots around Salt Lake and Davis County.

The orchard has been in Jack’s wife Kari’s family for five generations and was known as Larsen Farms before

Jack took over the operation in 2009. Kari’s parent’s, Ralph and Shirley, ran the orchard together for 37 years, and continued working on the farm until 2020 (into their 90’s).

The orchard’s story begins with Ralph, a child of 10. His parents, Norman and Bergetta, immigrated to Bountiful from Norway in 1938. During his childhood, his mother, Bergetta, loved looking after the vegetable gardens as well as canning and preserving the food grown on the land. She took great care to tend roses, lilacs, and other flower bushes around the property in

PHOTOS BY KELLI CHRISTINE CASE

addition to the fruit trees. Ralph’s wife Shirley maintained them for another generation, and today Jack and Kari continue to tend the original flower bushes. Now Jack’s son Ian helps with the fruit when he can, and Ian’s son Cameron, who just finished 7th grade, helps water trees on early summer mornings.

Through the years, every spring Shirley would pull out her paper list of people who were interested in receiving fruit and took orders, dialing them oneby-one. Thousands of pounds of fruit were distributed around Davis County

each year, significantly contributing to a culture of making jams and preserves.

The orchard has 90 trees — mostly peaches, but also apricot, apple, cherry, pear, plum, and table grapes. Jack remarked, “You’d be amazed at how much fruit a little orchard like this will produce.”

Jack continues the farm operation, but it’s not meant to support the family financially. He’s driven to keep Ralph’s (aged 94) and Shirley’s (aged 93) legacy alive and to allow them to stay at home to see the beautiful trees they’ve known all these years, and so their children and grandchildren can experience the orchard. It’s a place where the family and neighborhood gather; where people can reflect and remember Bountiful’s agricultural roots.

“I started by helping Ralph and Shirley, but it ended up helping me more. It’s fed me in more ways than one. I started doing it and just wanted to do more. I discovered that I like growing food,” Jack says.

The orchard is surrounded by neighbors who appreciate what the Larsen’s have preserved there. They do not want condos. While many other historic orchards have been developed, this orchard holds a special kind of value for the area.

“People tell me they are so grateful it’s still here, that they love to see the trees,” Jack continues. “It matters to people that there’s still a farm here. The community is invested in this place.”

3 Squares Produce had super small beginnings in 2009 with just three backyard plots. They now also grow organic vegetables using donated backyard gardens and fields around Salt Lake and Davis counties, which allows

the whole operation to stay in business through a CSA (community-supported agriculture) model.

“We’re bigger than a hobby farm, but not big enough to com pete with a giant grower to sell wholesale,” Jack explains. “We fulfill a unique niche for supplying locally-grown, organic fruit and vegetables through our CSA and at the farmers market.”

They sell about 30 shares per season and are one of the most afford able CSAs in Utah. Their boxes are loaded with their locally-grown fruit as well as vegetables, setting them apart from other CSAs. Most other

CSAs don’t have fruit, and if they do, they’re often purchased non-locally and/or grown non-organically. While their 2023 shares are sold out, you can subscribe to their email newsletter to be the first to know when 2024 shares become available. You can also find 3 Squares Produce every Sunday at the Wheeler Farmers Market. In Jack’s words, “As long as Ralph and Shirley are alive, we will continue to grow food for the neighborhood and our customers. We impact a small number of people, but they are getting food grown with love. That’s important.”

Jack Wilbur

Chad’s produce Cultivating A Sustainable Oasis Amidst Utah’s Urban Sprawl

By Taylor Hartman

“You won’t find pomelos or kumquats like this growing anywhere else. This greenhouse keeps them warm enough all winter,” says Chad Midgley, owner of Chad’s Produce. “Now, who wants a cutting of a tree to take home?”

The last farm tour of the season at Chad’s Produce stands in a greenhouse on an Ogden property, surrounded by dense citrus trees. According to Midgley, it’s the largest fruit-bearing citrus collection in Utah, soaking up the warmth of the sun on the property, wedged inside of a neighborhood between two houses and behind a new development.

While the urban sprawl pushes through open land and historic farms in Utah, there’s a parallel demand from residents for the availability of local, fresh food. Midgley, a fierce believer

in the community-building power of agriculture, has been working to meet this demand, farming property in urban Utah for more than 11 years. What started as a small operation in Syracuse eventually ballooned out to five properties in Syracuse, Bountiful, Ogden and West Bountiful.

Midgley calls his farms permaculture food forests, using a type of growing technique that mimics the structure and function of a natural forest, layering plants together and harnessing the power of nature for nutrients. Designed to be sustainable and low-maintenance with the ecosystem and sustainability in mind, Midgley says he’s doing more than just producing food in these urban plots. He’s helping the land.

Touring Midgley’s farm is like entering a labyrinth — a corn maze with

PHOTO BY CHAD MIDGLEY.

People who want to learn more about Chad’s techniques can tour his farm and even lend a hand in the work.

more plants than just corn. Using sustainable and organic farming practices means you won’t find neat and tidy rows of identical-looking plants. Here, different crops cohabitate together, providing shade, aerated soil, or pest control for the plants around them. Wood chips sit in mounds throughout, slowly turning into nutrient-rich compost that will feed the soil.

“This is what a healthy growing environment looks like,” Midgley said. “If you dig down, you’ll see worms eating the chips. We have a very good ecosystem here.”

For Midgley, the process of growing sustainable, healthy food is just the start. Equally important is his mission to share the food he grows — and the techniques he uses — with those who want to learn. Stroll down the Ogden Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, and Midgley’s cheerful voice is sure to greet you, beckoning you to try one of his heirloom peaches, greens, basement-grown strawberries, and more. This connection with consumers is what he says he values most about farmers markets, and is part of Midgley’s vision for a more local-centric food future.

“They come, they try the produce, and they want to learn more, and then we want them eventually to want to tour, then have a hand in farming as well,” Midgley said.

Each bite of Chad’s Produce is a result of generations of hard, careful work building a good ecosystem and

soil to farm in. While standing on the Ogden property, Midgley remembers discovering that the farm he’d bought had been grown on and cared for from the time the early pioneers first arrived. With irrigation through the back, and healthy soil, he couldn’t have asked for a better place to start.

“I bought this, and I came to find out this whole area was a big orchard,” Midgley said.

Now, he feels a bit of sadness watching the area change. Just behind his orchard space in Ogden, a large apartment complex is going up, blocking the view of his farm from the road.

“You could see citrus trees in Ogden,” Midgley said. “The farm has a special spirit about it that you don’t get in all the dwellings that people are building.”

The sentiment Midgley has is shared throughout Northern Utah and the rest of the state. According to the Census of Agriculture, acreage farmed in Utah is shrinking or staying flat year after year. Still, in this permaculture forest, at least for now, even the sounds of the busy street nearby are muted and the bird songs amplified.

Chad’s Produce can be found at the Ogden Farmers Market on Saturdays from May 27 to September 9, and at other markets throughout Northern Utah during the season. He gives tours of his properties from February through May, or upon request.

Find more information at facebook. com/chads.produce.

PHOTO BY TAYLOR HARTMAN

Chad Midgley

Local actors hope to make it big

The Hogue Brothers Aspire To Movie Greatness

By Al Sacharov

From Left to Right: Johnny Hogue, David Layne their talent agent of Elevate Talent Agency, and Tony Hogue.

PHOTOS

Meet the Hogue brothers — two men who are following a dream they know is not impossible, and a dream that has brought them to Utah.

Tony, 45, and Johnny, 42, are movie actors, a profession that has its share of ups and downs. But when you have known since childhood that this is what you are supposed to do, well, this is what you are supposed to do.

The brothers were born in Houston on the same day and in the same hour, but three years apart. This eerie coincidence helped form a deep bond between them.

Cinema’s magical storytelling took hold early. Their grandfather was a movie projectionist, so as kids, they went to movies for free … and they saw a lot of movies. They also thought about the action happening behind the screen. When he was five, John saw a coin lying on the sidewalk and thought, “What if that coin was still lying there a year later.” At that point he knew he could be a good movie director.

Both did drama in high school and then thought it was time to leave such dreams behind to focus on “the real world”, with Tony attending Baylor University. There have been sacrifices along the way, such as girlfriends and relationships.

“A normal life for us is a sacrifice. But we don’t want a normal life, so that sacrifice is easy,” Tony said.

But knowing, just knowing what you are supposed to do has a way of manifesting itself. In their early 20s, they got roles as Mexican soldiers in The Alamo. “There was no turning around after

this. I just like working and being on sets,” Johnny explained.

After doing the “whatever it takes” jobs such as scooter mechanics and warehouse workers, they obtained featured background roles in the Biblical drama The Chosen. It was first filmed in Texas, but then came the Utah connection. The LDS Church maintains a movie set in Goshen that resembles ancient Jerusalem. When the production moved to Utah in 2022, the brothers came here with it. This came at the same time close friends invited them to Ogden.

After the filming, the brothers found work with Harrison Ford’s 1923 and Kevin Costner’s Horizon. The brothers have the highest respect for these two stars and benefited from the acting tips Kevin Costner provided.

Other auditions are happening, and although both studied the profession in Texas, they are keeping themselves ready through acting classes with their talent agency, Elevate.

“You have to stay ready because you never know when an opportunity will present itself. Utah’s motto is ‘Life Elevated’, and we want to elevate to the next level,” Tony said.

The emphasis here is on the word “we”. In this tough profession, the brothers sustain each other. “We wake up every morning and make a commitment to ourselves and to acting. We pick each other up because two are better than one.”

They have as their goal speaking roles as well as writing and directing their own films. “We know we have the talent and are knocking at the door,” Tony said.

More about that later ...

“Follow the fellow who follows his dream.”

—Finian’s Rainbow

BY KAELYN KORTE

A Century of cinema

Moab’s Varied Movie History Continues

By Rachel Fixsen

At the top of a set of steps leading down to the Moab Museum of Film and Western Heritage, a prop statue, perhaps ten feet tall, represents an Egyptian figure carved in sandstone. It’s from the 1997 movie Passion in the Desert, which is set in Egypt and was partly filmed in Moab. Above the passage at the foot of the steps hangs a black-and-white poster of actors John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, embracing as their characters in the 1950 John Ford film Rio Grande, which was filmed almost entirely at White’s Ranch near Moab.

White’s Ranch later became Red Cliffs Lodge, a currently operating resort along the Colorado River. It’s home to the Moab Museum of Film and Western Heritage, and was a favorite location for Ford. He used locations all over South-

east Utah as backdrops for many of his famous Westerns, giving the region the nickname “John Ford Country.”

John Ford Country

Elise Park, director of the Moab Museum of Film and Western Heritage, offered a brief insight into film history to illustrate the significance of Ford’s Westerns. In the early days of film, American movies hadn’t really found an identity, she said. They weren’t considered as masterful as Italian or French movies. Ford was instrumental in establishing an American style in film, and his movies influenced art and culture around the world. His Westerns aren’t just good within the genre, “These are some of the best films ever made,” Park said, noting that Ford’s Westerns, such as 1956’s The

Searchers, regularly appear on contemporary “best movies ever” lists. The Searchers was partly filmed in Monument Valley, Arizona, south of Moab.

Ford didn’t exclusively make Westerns — he’s still known for other classics such as The Grapes of Wrath and The Quiet Man. But it’s arguable that the Western genre he helped to develop had an outsized influence on popular culture. The towers and red rocks of Southeast Utah form the mental image of the American Southwest for consumers of Western films around the world, and the American cowboy is a globally recognized folk figure.

Moabites got on board with Ford’s movies. George White, owner of White’s Ranch, started the Moab Film Commission in 1949, and helped facilitate logistics for the movie makers. Ford sometimes used George White’s ranch as a shooting location; cast and crew would stay in local motels or people’s homes; Ford would hire extras from town and

from the Navajo Nation, and lease horses and cattle from local ranchers.

Film producers sometimes even contributed to local infrastructure, improving roads necessary to reach set locations. In 1949 a local newspaper reported on a friendly softball game with crew working on the film Wagon Master competing against locals. The locals won by a narrow margin, though the article pointed out that locals were keeping score.

The nickname “John Ford Country” has persisted, but Ford wasn’t the only director to feature Southeast Utah and surrounding areas in Westerns. Other filmmakers, including George Sherman and Gordon Douglas, also used the Moab area for their Western movies over many decades.

Film thrives in Moab

Lots of non-Western movies have also been made in the Moab area since the John Ford heyday. The quaint muse-

A prop from the 1997 movie Passion in the Desert greets visitors to the Moab Museum of Film and Western Heritage.

um in the Red Cliffs Lodge basement displays memorabilia from films such as 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (part of which was filmed in Arches National Park) and 1991’s Thelma and Louise (the climax scene of which was filmed in Dead Horse Point State Park). The landscape’s buttes, cliffs and canyons have served as the setting for action movies, alien-planet movies, and road trip movies.

Film activity in the Moab area has ebbed and flowed at different times through the years, but it’s always operating. The Moab to Monument Valley Film Commission — an evolution of George White’s Moab Film Commission, and probably the longest-running film commission in the world — has helped facilitate a steady flow of projects, including TV shows, commercials and music videos in addition to movies.

A high-profile film project is underway in Moab right now: Director Kevin Costner is using Southeast Utah for much of the filming of his multipart Western epic, Horizon: An American Saga

A 2022 press release from the Utah Film Commission said the project would film in Emery, Grand, Kane, San Juan

and Washington counties, and it was estimated that it would spend about $54 million in Utah. A casting call in Moab in the summer of 2022 brought locals in droves hoping to be cast as extras.

An amendment to the state’s tax incentive package for the film industry, passed in 2022, was a major factor in Costner’s choice of filming location, the director told media outlets. The updated incentives made Utah more competitive as a film destination, especially rural parts of the state. That bodes well for the future of filming in Moab.

New projects likely won’t all be Westerns. Moab’s scenery makes a great stand-in for an alien planet, for example. But Southeast Utah will always be a candidate for the genre. While film critics perennially pronounce Western films as being “dead,” Park said, the genre keeps rising again.

“Five years later, something like Yellowstone will come out and prove them completely wrong,” she said. The Western saga, Yellowstone (which stars Costner), is one of the most popular shows on TV.

“Westerns are clearly here to stay,” Park said.

Thelma & Louise film scene at Dead Horse Point State Park.

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ThE manny garcia story

The History Of Ogden’s Latino Culture Through One Man’s Eyes

By Cathy McKitrick

OGDEN — Manny Garcia’s parents found their way to the US from Mexico before he was born. Now 44, the Ogden native can see beneficial effects of the Latino culture throughout this northern Utah city.

Latinos and Hispanics make up about 30 percent of Ogden’s 87,000 residents, according to the US Census figures published in mid-2022. Data reported by the Pew Research Center — tracking growth of the Hispanic population in US counties for decades — indicated that only 5.9 percent of Weber County residents had Hispanic origins in 1980. Ogden is the largest city and also the county seat in Weber County.

As the youngest of his five sisters and two brothers, Garcia grew up watching his mother, Raquel Garcia, deftly navi-

gate the city’s social strata. As a kindhearted woman who could neither read nor write, she worked hard and always extended a helping hand, Garcia recalls.

“She was the type of person who could make friends with anyone, so that kind of started her life (in Ogden),” he said.

Both his parents passed on more than a decade ago, but Garcia enjoys reminiscing about how he and Ogden have evolved over the past four decades.

His father worked for Southern Pacific Railroad, and those ties often brought the family into downtown Ogden.

“I was always with my mom, and we would drive down to 25th Street at a time when you didn’t go down there because there was nothing for anybody

PHOTO COURTESY OF MANNY GARCIA

other than trouble,” Garcia said of the area’s rough-and-tumble past.

As a small child, he remembers finding his Dad’s friends in the Roosevelt Hotel and inviting them to dinner.

“That was kind of the routine. Sometimes I’d have to go into the bars, sometimes I’d have to look around in the park and on the benches. We’d round up my dad’s friends, They’d come over and my mom would cook,” Garcia said.

That generous spirit permeated his upbringing, causing his family circle to broaden organically as they embraced a larger community devoted to helping each other.

“It got me immersed into downtown Ogden,” Garcia said. “It’s been neat to see it transform not only into places but also into the community it’s become.”

Garcia attended and graduated from Ben Lomond HIgh School, earned his associates degree from Weber State University, and, following in his older brother’s foot steps, obtained a degree in Graphics Design and Visual Communications from the Art Institute of Salt Lake City.

“At the time, we didn’t have stock photography or the means to do video, so we basically created all those elements on our own,” Garcia said, noting that his signage and window graphics work can be seen in businesses up and down Historic 25th Street.

Garcia also designs branding for Zolupez, a craft brewery that manufactures Mexican beer on Ogden’s lower 29th Street.

At one time Garcia and his former wife owned and operated Pandemonium, a downtown art gallery that provided space for local talent to display their works.

Just over three years ago, he began working part-time for Ogden’s Own Distillery, a gig that quickly evolved into a full time job with Garcia as the thriving company’s marketing director.

Another Ogden transplant from Mexico shares Garcia’s love for Hispanic and Latino culture and how it has helped shape Ogden.

Luis Lopez moved to Ogden 25 years ago at the age of 19. Now 45, Lopez is finishing his second term on the Ogden City Council and has directed community education and outreach for Weber State University for 10 years.

“The Hispanic community has had a tremendous impact in many aspects: culturally, socially, in the labor force,” Lopez said, noting its significant presence in the construction, restaurant and hospitality industries. “There are a lot of business owners as well, most of them small mom-and-pop’s. [There are] a lot of contributions there.”

Similar to Garcia, Lopez sought out higher education in Utah and eventually earned a Masters degree in education, leadership and policy.

“When I came here, maybe there was one Mexican store in Ogden, and maybe one authentic Mexican restaurant,” Lopez said. “Now there are dozens and dozens. Gastronomically, we love to share our food.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OGDEN CITY COUNCIL

Luis Lopez

TACO TIME

One Writer’s Favorite Tacos

By Ted Scheffler

Ihave plenty of friends, family and colleagues who are taco snobs. I am not one of them. But I’ve seen fights almost break out during heated discussions of the best taco cart or truck in town, the most “authentic” Mexican street taco, the best birria taco, the best bougie taco, and on and on.

And sure, I have my favorites too. I’m just not as militant about my taco consumption as are some. In fact, I would go as far to say that I’ve never met a taco I didn’t like. Like most Americans, my first taco encounter was a Taco Bell-style taco: a crunchy tortilla shell filled with seasoned ground meat and garnished with shredded yellow cheese, iceberg lettuce, and a few tomato morsels. It

was probably taco night at our house featuring tacos from an Old El Paso taco kit that my mom made. Confession: I still love that style of taco and stop by Del Taco once or twice a month to get my crunchy taco fix, perhaps with a Crunchtada on the side.

The first authentic Mexican street tacos I encountered were at a taco cart in Mexico City, and they were a revelation. Those tacos were delicious, but sure didn’t agree with my digestive system. I remember spending most of my first night in the funky Hotel Texas in Mexico City, rushing to the communal bathroom in the hallway. Still, it didn’t scare me off of Mexican street tacos, and I’ve enjoyed them from Nogales to

Ramon’s Famous FIsh Tacos - Red Iguana. PHOTOS BY TED SCHEFFLER

Oaxaca, and from Puebla and Cabo and Puerto Escondido, not to mention in many cities and towns in the US.

When I was asked to write a story about SLC’s “best” tacos. I thought: Do we really need another taco roundup article? It’s been done plenty. But then, I do have my favorite taco joints; I just wouldn’t be as bold as to say I’ve found “the best” birria taco or “the best” crunchy taco, etc. These are simply some tacos that I love, and that you may come to love, as well. It’s not a scientific survey or sample, but merely my faves.

When I’m looking for the perfect carne asada taco, with tender beef seasoned and cooked just right, I turn to Taco Taco and order a couple of carne asada tacos with a Mexican bottle of Coca-Cola on the side. The 6-inch tacos at Taco Taco are a bit larger than standard street tacos, and while I love the carne asada, my wife is a big fan of the vegan zucchini blossom taco with a savory coconut cream sauce. There’s also a good salsa bar with a selection of salsas, cabbage, jalapeños, onions, cilantro, hot sauces and more. Tacos Don Rafa and Taqueria La Tapatia in Ogden also

are carne asada masters.

When we think of tacos, we tend to think of the various fillings — from pollo, lengua and cabeza to fish, shrimp and birria. But the tortilla is oh-so important! It’s like the bread of a sandwich or a pizza’s crust. Which is one reason I love El Cabrito in Rose Park so much. They make their own corn and flour tortillas, and for my money, El Cabrito constructs the best pork carnitas tacos in town, not to mention terrific tortas, gorditas, pozole, menudo and more. By the way, cabrito means kid or billy goat in Spanish, and yes, they have authentic goat meat burritos, tacos and such.

In Park City, I always try to make time to stop by El Chubasco, which was cooking up street-style tacos before just about anybody in SLC or Park City. The carnitas and shredded beef tacos are my favorites at El Chubasco. But no matter what you order, you’ll have access to the best Utah salsa bar I know of, with some 15 different homemade salsas ranging from ranchera, morita, and serrano frito, to mango & manzano, arbol y aceite, habanero, cilantro crema, escabeche, and many more. I also love the carnitas

tacos at Lola and Santo Taco in SLC, and Tacos Blanquita in Layton.

Taqueria 27 was the first Utah taqueria to jump on the bougie taco train (aka bourgeois tacos), a trend which now seems more the norm than not. If you’re not sure what goes into a bougie taco, take a gander at the Taqueria 27 menu where you’ll find tacos filled with roasted beets and grilled pears, house-smoked pork belly, grilled portobello mushrooms with balsamic and gorgonzola, and so on. The bougie taco that hits all the right notes for me is the duck confit taco, made with chipotle-spiked duck confit, roasted corn, squash, peppers, chipotle crema, and addictive crisp leek strings.

I like the fact that Red Iguana doesn’t get too caught up in arguments about authenticity. I mean sure, you can get tacos de pollo and tacos de carne asada and such, made with soft corn tortillas in the traditional Mexican style, but they’re not afraid to also put an American-type taco on the menu, which they call Red Iguana Traditional Tacos.

It’s a plate of three hard-shell tacos filled with a choice of shredded beef or chicken (either is great), garnished a la Taco Bell with shredded lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Fish lovers like my wife will enjoy Ramon’s Famous Fish Tacos at Red Iguana, in which the fresh fish is grilled, rather than battered and fried.

Barrio SLC gets rave reviews about their Surf & Turf tacos with wagyu steak and grilled garlic butter shrimp.

For a bodacious birria taco, look no further than Los Tapatios Taco Grill, with locations in Taylorsville and Salt Lake City. With a menu that features stewed beef birria in almost every dish, you know these folks from Guadalajara are serious about birria. I love the signature birria crispy taco with housemade consome for dipping. But they also serve up birria-filled tortas, mulitas, quesadillas, burritos, nachos, and even birria ramen. If it’s birria you’re after, Los Tapatios is the place. SLC’s Monarca and Chonchis in Farmington are also great for birria.

Zero-proof

By Heather L. King

Pizza

PHOTOS BY JOHN TAYLOR

Welcome to the land of inclusive cocktails — made to be enjoyed by everyone. Whether you’re sober, curious, pregnant, a designated driver, or simply a non-drinker, Utah bars and restaurants are making sure that no one needs to miss the cocktail culture experience when they’re out with friends or coworkers for an evening by offering non-alcoholic drink options that will satisfy everyone.

“We want to prioritize inclusivity in the bar scene and create a space where drinkers and non-drinkers alike feel welcome,” says Jennifer Hannon, co-owner of BackDoor, a bar in downtown Salt Lake City. “We want to normalize a space where those that want the environment but not the alcohol, can enjoy a drink. Our mocktail menu has been developed with everyone in mind — diabetics looking for a low-sugar option, folks in recovery, those with religious beliefs that support non drinking, health restrictions, or just want a sober evening.”

Bar Manager Joey Langlinais at Pizza Volta in SugarHouse attributes the success of zero-proof cocktails to a changing relationship to going out. “I think, in general, people are ready for more versatility from a bar, which is exciting.”

Zero-Proof Drinks with Flavor

Once called mocktails — which seemed to mock the best of mixology by merely removing the alcohol and leaving the sugar and mixers behind — today’s non-alcoholic cocktails, often dubbed zero-proof on menus around Utah, bring all the skills of the state’s best bartenders to the table.

“My staff are as excited about making alcoholic cocktails as they are spiritless ones,” explains Amy Leininger, owner of The Ruin in downtown Salt Lake. “We aim to educate and encourage our

staff to engage in the creation of these drinks.”

Those behind the bar are crafting full menus of non-alcoholic choices and regularly updating them to reflect the seasons and changing tastes of clientele. Zero proof drinks are also a way for bartenders to flex their creative muscles and incorporate locally grown ingredients as well as highlight housemade shrubs, syrups and more.

Curated and Bespoke Cocktails

At Laurel Brasserie & Bar in The Grand America, Beverage Director Mark Moulton is proud to serve five non-alcoholic drinks that “create a bespoke experience for the guest.” Their most popular zero-proof drink is the Eastside, featuring Seedlip Spice non-alcoholic spirit, with muddled cucumber and kaffir lime syrup, and lime juice that’s garnished with a cucumber ribbon.

Another standout is the strawberry mint shrub made with red wine vinegar, sugar, mint, strawberries and sparkling water. “It’s garnished with mint in a stemless wine glass, creating a drink that is beautiful and refreshing — a true crowd favorite,” Moulton continues.

BackDoor is excited that their most popular zero-proof cocktail is also a beautiful, low sugar option called the Almond Mom, which highlights passionfruit juice, lime juice, ginger beer and ice.

At Pizza Volta, Langlinais uses fresh ingredients supplied by Charlie’s Produce. “They have the most beautiful mint and ginger. The ginger is cold pressed and used to make our ginger beer, and the mint is used in the lavender lemonade. I make a refreshing lemongrass tonic as well,” he says.

Like their incredibly inventive pizza creations, the “Like a Virgin” non-alcoholic menu at Pizza Volta also show-

cases outside-the-box pours like a juicy mocktail called the Bad & Boochie with local Han’s Kombucha that Langlinais confirms is by far the most popular choice on the menu.

When Leininger began exploring her own sober curiosity and the offerings for non-alcoholic beverages at The Ruin, she came across WB’s Non-Alcoholic Bottle Shop in Ogden that stocked a wealth of options — including non-alcoholic wines, spiritless vodka, rum, tequila, whiskeys and aperitifs.

“We’ve seen such a great response and request for non-alcoholic drinks we’ve decided to add new spring cocktails that can be made spiritless with a simple swap of product,” Leininger says. The move is in response to the exceptional reception they’ve gotten over zero-proof favorites such as Anime Girl, a tiki drink featuring Dromme, coconut, orgeat and citrus which is “as delicious to drink as it is to look at!”

At one of downtown Salt Lake’s newest bars, Van Ryder in the Le Meridien hotel, Director of Libations and Service, Elyse Evan, has seen the popularity of their zero proof cocktail and non-alcoholic beer sales increase the longer they have been open and the weather warms. “As people have been hearing about it, it has only gained in popularity,” she explains.

In addition to using a lot of locally sourced products in their house made syrups, she says, “We are also using a Verjus Rouge that is locally made that

really brings out a lot of the flavor in our Zero Sbagliato.” But their most popular drink is the Ski Lift. It features Amethyst blueberry-ginger-mint non alcoholic liquor, yuzu, and the bar’s inhouse cardamom syrup. “It’s garnished with mint and an orange swath to really add a brightness to the cocktail,” she continues.

“I would estimate around 15% of sales go toward our zero-proof program,” Evan continues. “Our zero-proof beer selection really holds its own at 25-30% of our total beer sales!”

Although zero-proof drinks haven’t taken over the bar tab by any means, Salt Lake restaurants and bars consulted see their sales at around 10% of overall orders, and customers are delighted with the additional options. Thanks to large brands such as Budweiser and Heineken who are putting their marketing dollars behind zero-proof drinks, guests are changing their expectations about what Utah bars and restaurants can serve and the experience they can have regardless of what’s in their glass.

“This trend of low ABV/no ABV is an amazing new style of drinking that we are excited to take to the next level,” concludes Evan. Her spring and summer menu will delight with lots of bright flavors that are really refreshing. “We really want to push the envelope on flavor and have fun with this menu!”

Here’s to drinks we can all raise a glass to!

Laurel Brasserie Grand America, Strawberries Mint Shrub.

SUGAR HOUSE VIOLINS

By Marco Leavitt

PHOTOS BY MARCO LEAVITT

Jordan Hess holds a $24,000 violin aloft by the neck, like a popsicle. It’s not actually a $24,000 violin … yet. First the bare, white-looking wood needs to get colorized with a red oxidizing solution. After that dries, he’ll coat it with another solution to “activate it,” and then it’ll go under an ultraviolet light to turn it “hopefully old-colored,” Hess says.

“It’s like going to a salon to get a tan, except it’s wood.”

Hess is the owner of Sugar House Violins. As he talks, Hess never stops working. His hands are in constant movement, slathering the watery red solution generously over the violin with what looks like an ordinary paint brush from a hardware store. After the colorizing treatment it will get lacquered and delivered to the buyer who commissioned it.

Not yet 30 years old, Hess is an an up and coming maker in the field, with a backlog, generally, of anywhere from six to 35 instruments. Among his past buyers are the Los Angeles concert violinist Christian Fatu and Yefim Romanov, first assistant concertmaster of the Florida Orchestra. Much of his clientele are music conservatory students.

“I’m still at a price point where they can afford me,” says Hess, who is unfailingly modest.

Of winning a “Certificate of Tone” award from the Violin Society of America last fall, Hess attributes his accomplishment to happenstance. Some 430 violins were evaluated during the competition, which is only held every other year. More than 21 countries were represented.

“Realistically, the instruments that the judges look at right after they’ve

had a break and some food score really well,” says Hess. “So I lucked out.”

The humility feels genuine. To be in demand in such a crowded market is obviously quite an accomplishment. As home to one of five major luthier schools in the country, Salt Lake City boasts at least half a dozen local shops offering custom instruments and restoration services, and the Violin Making School of America is well-known. Hess attended the school himself before leaving to take an apprenticeship with renowned luthier John Young.

“He’s just an amazing teacher. That opened a ton of doors and helped me

get to a place where I could continue learning on my own without having someone standing there helping me out,” Hess recalls.

At that point, Hess was making about 20 to 25 instruments a year, and was able to finance opening the shop, which needed to be renovated. Being a woodworker was a helpful skill.

Working with wood has been a lifelong passion for Hess, who says he started building a sailboat at the age of nine while growing up in Indiana. By age 12, he was helping a neighbor with a small wooden aircraft. At 14, he made his

first, unsuccessful attempt at building a violin. Once the strings were tensioned, it basically blew up, Hess recalls. “It’s a pile of bits now.”

After his father took Hess to a violin shop for advice, they suggested he hang around and learn. It just snowballed from there.

In order to keep the revenue flowing, Hess has turned much of his effort into restoring, where final payment is guaranteed. Sometimes customers will commission a piece and then end up not buying it. With restoration work, clients can be counted on to pay to get their instrument back, and as the business has grown, he has employees and obligations.

He just hired his first-full time restorer. Another maker, Hannah Fenn, also works out of the shop. Fenn, herself a seventh generation maker of German

heritage, apprenticed with Hess for two years. The shop also has two other parttime employees.

Hess switches his attention to an 18th century instrument he is restoring. The violin, which was made by Nicolò Gagliano, was eaten by worms about 100 to 150 years ago, according to Hess. Now, the previous worm-fill repairs are starting to fall out and Hess is examining the violin under a microscope. A replacement piece of wood will have to be carved in the exact shape of the hole and fitted.

A single hole can take days to repair. So far, Hess and his team have put in about 1,000 hours into this one violin. Hess wouldn’t say what the violin is valued at, but in March of this year London-based auction house Ingles & Hayday reportedly sold another Nicolò Gagliano violin for $221,556.

Jordan Hess uses a microscope to examine wormhole damage on an old violin. A single hole can take days to repair.

The rising cost of addiction

Drug Use Affects Businesses And The Economy

By Francia Henriquez Benson

BY CHRIS BODILY

Drug addiction is a critical issue affecting not only consumers, but their families, society, and the economy. For example, the number of users in hospitals, funeral homes, and treatment centers can measure the adverse health outcomes of using and abusing hard drugs. Furthermore, drug use and abuse harm the economy in different forms. The increased rate of drug use in Utah, especially in Salt Lake, is hurting businesses.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), in 2007, the cost of drug use in the economy was a loss of $120 billion in productivity. That sum is divided between the cost of labor participation, participation in substance use disorder treatments, imprisonment, and early death.

Drug use is a complex issue where many factors come into play. The elevated living cost would potentially cause more drug use and abuse.

Mothers used to have the option to stay home, raising and caring for their children. One-bedroom apartment rent is around $1,200, the gas price has almost doubled, many food items have tripled in cost, and child care has increased. Staying home and taking care of the kids is no longer an option. Both parties in the couple must work, and in many cases, each needs two jobs to afford a place to live and put food on the table. This means that kids stay home without parental supervision.

Data reported in 2008 shows that children as young as 12 are part of the 7 million people addicted to drugs. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2009-2010, during those years, Utah was among the top ten states whose youth aged 12-17 had used cocaine.

By the time these kids enter the workforce, they are already deep into addiction. Drug use impacts businesses in different ways, such as absenteeism, low productivity, workplace injuries,

and bad attitude toward coworkers and customers.

Ricci Rondinelli, the owner of Villagio Italian restaurant, stated that he had seen a huge increase in drug usage. A few homeless people have done drugs by his establishment. He is concerned with drug and homelessness issues. He said, “They [the restaurant] embrace them in the hope they will straighten out.”

He hires drug addicts from the recovery program to give them an opportunity to better their lives. Unfortunately, some have gotten high in breaks. Consequently, his business gets affected; the workers work slower and do not give customers the appropriate service. Besides, they can’t handle knives if they are high since accidents could happen, incurring costs and losses for the restaurant.

Rondinelli commented that some of his workers who use drugs stop going to work once they hit the 30 hours demanded by Recovery Housing Programs. He says he hires back those who keep relapsing and going to jail. However, he said, “I’ve noticed they are less and less of a person when they come back because it [drugs] does something to them.”

He adds that he feels bad because they can’t perform as they did before. He believes that the economy is partly to blame, saying everything is expensive except drugs.”

“We also have a big problem with people who just come in here and play the game. ‘I gotta go out to my car, I forgot something in my car,’ and when they come back they are a different person. So they get high in the car,” said Rondinelli.

Since he allowed them to vape, some have put stuff in it. “They show up to work and by the time the shift is over, they are all messed up and can’t even walk straight,” he stated.

Rondinelli commented that one of his workers, who was homeless for thirteen years, is now his manager and was able to

buy a nice car and rent a lovely apartment.

The Gateway Mall has been significantly affected by the homeless agglomerate in the area. People avoid some stores because they would need to go through a group of homeless. While not all do drugs or are violent, people want to take precautions — these actions weigh heavily on business profits.

A person who works in security in Salt Lake and chose to be kept anonymous, said the drug situation is pretty bad. “It’s not uncommon to find syringes full of heroin. It happens at least once a week. Most of our most severe incidents that have affected our property negatively have involved people who are on drugs.”

She adds that some people have overdosed on the property and defecated in the stairwells, the garage, and even in some businesses. The person finished by saying that some homeless people “do it openly, too. Like smoking crack, spice, heroin, just in the stairwell.”

Business owners on Main Street in Salt Lake City and 25th Street in Ogden are affected by drug use. A statement issued by The Department of Economic

Development explains that they, along with the “Business Development team, is a boots-on-the-ground organization. Our team is working with businesses day in and day out to listen to their needs and provide support.”

Downtown Alliance’s executive director Dee Brewer believes that the situation with people experiencing homelessness and the drug issue occurs both downtown and at a state and national level. However, he said, “I view the answers for the drug crisis as being healthcare-related and mental health services related.”

The Downtown Alliance has a program called The Homeless Outreach Service Team (HOST). The program collaborates with the police and homeless service providers to help the homeless community. The other program is The Downtown Street Ambassadors. The ambassadors help people experiencing homelessness to obtain necessities such as shelter and food.

As previously stated, drug usage is a complex issue; fixing it would take crucial time and effort from national organizations.

PHOTO BY KAELYN KORTE

Ricci Rondinelli, Owner of Villagio Pizza, holding his house-made chicken parmesan. Villagio Pizzeria is located at 3144 South State Street.

A Hole lot of haste

Iconic Pantages Theater Falls To Wrecking Ball

By Cathy McKitrick

SALT LAKE CITY — Much to the dismay of vintage moviehouse fans, the Utah Pantages Theater that graced this city’s Main Street for more than a century met its demise in April 2022 at the hands of demolition crews.

Preservationists had unsuccessfully battled its destruction in court, suing Salt Lake City’s Redevelopment Agency in hopes of blocking a developer’s plan to clear the land and erect a high-rise apartment building in its place.

Once part of the 1920’s-era Pantages theater circuit in dozens of cities throughout the US and Canada, three of the architecturally notable structures still functioned in Hollywood, Minneapolis and Tacoma in 2020.

Too costly to save?

According to RDA documents, Salt Lake City first acquired the Utah Pantages Theater in 2010, and spent several years researching how much its preservation

Main Street in Downtown Salt Lake City, the site where the Pantages Theater once stood at 144 South Main Street.

would cost.

But by 2019, Salt Lake City’s Redevelopment Agency had struck a deal with Hines, a global real estate development company, to sell the property — then valued at $400,000 — for $0 in exchange for Hines including several public benefits in its 400-unit, 31-story project in the heart of Salt Lake City’s downtown.

Those amenities included a midblock walkway, family-friendly park and entertainment venue for public use. Also, at least 10 percent of its 400 housing units would be available below market rate to households earning 60 to 80 percent of area median income.

Recent attempts to reach Dusty Harris, who directs Hines’ work in Utah and Oregon, have been unsuccessful.

But Joel Lasalle, who owns land at 160 S. Main Street that Hines intends to purchase and include in the high-rise project, blamed the economy for the lack of development progress.

As he understands it, Lasalle said that Hines’ financial partner — in light of interest rates and other factors — “backed out of the deal and they’re in the process of re-upping with another joint venture partner.”

The Boomerangs Down Under bar and Gandolfo’s sandwich shop continue to operate on Lasalle’s parcel.

According to an April 1, 2023 Salt Lake Tribune story, the project’s timeline still remains in question, but Hines underscored its commitment to make it happen.

Intense court battle

While litigation often spans several months or years, the lawsuit to try to save the Theater from the RDA and developer’s plan occupied a brief but blazing two months in early 2022.

In late February 2022, the nonprofit Friends of the Utah Pantages Cinematic Theater sued Salt Lake City’s RDA, and by early March sought a temporary restraining order to block its pending demolition.

Although they’d been taking steps to give the timeworn relic a safe haven by getting it placed on the National Historic Register, Friends needed more time to complete that process.

But in early March, Third District Court Judge Robert Faust ruled against Friends’ request, saying they lacked standing in the case. And by April 19, the Theater’s teardown had begun.

According to a Salt Lake Tribune account, Harris (of Hines) maintained

that demolition delays could cost his company up to $100,000 per day. But Friends’ attorney Karthik Nadesan estimated those costs much lower at about $20,000. Judge Faust leaned in Hines’ direction, putting estimates at around $80,000.

And now the former theater property sits vacant, with no construction activity in sight.

Can it rise again?

But one theater devotee continues to fight on its behalf.

Michael Patton intends to run for Salt Lake City mayor against incumbent Erin Mendenhall this year, in hopes of not only avenging the theater’s demise, but also to take steps to rebuild it to its former glory.

“They rushed to destroy the theater last year to block our lawsuits and just get out in front of it,” Patton said. “We were about to put the theater on the (historic) registry and I think they were never really close to being ready to

build.”

To Patton, his vision of rebuilding the Utah Pantages Theater seems entirely doable.

“We have all the blueprints for the theater and I have architects lined up already,” Patton said. “When Hines destroyed it, they took the historic skylight out and a lot of artifacts — a big chandelier and all sorts of things.” Patton believes that under the right leadership, the moviehouse could rise again to form a vibrant historic theater district in tandem with the old Eccles and Capitol Theaters nearby.

“It sounds kind of crazy, but saving the theater was the first part, building a place for cinema and restoring it was the second part. And we can still do all that,” Patton said.

But Lasalle, the Theater’s longtime neighbor, disagrees.

“Long before the court battle, there was a huge effort to save the Theater and there was more than one study that said it was not realistic,” Lasalle said.

Main Street in Downtown Salt Lake City.

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