Jensen Reports State Office Moving Into Ben Lomond Hotel

Weber County Commissioner Keith G. Jensen said today in the next 30 or 60 days Utah State Tax Commission offices will be moved into the Ben Lomond Hotel along with offices of Assessor J. Mike Monson.

The state commission has approved relocating offices now at 2473 Grant in the hotel acquired by Weber County, Mr. Jensen said.

Tentatively scheduled within 30 days is the moving of county and public manpower and social services offices from the Kiesel Building to the hotel, the commissioner said.

LEAVE OFFICES

Steven Lawson, executive vice president of the Ogden Area chamber of Commerce, has indicated he may vacate offices on the mezzanine, Mr. Jensen said. As of June 30, the hotel, acquired as a gift from the F. 0. Woodbury family on April 22, had an operating deficit of $11,163.

Occupancy rate in the motel wing has been running 15 per cent, but only six per cent within the hotel, Michael Waddoups, hotel manager, has told County Auditor Dee Wilcox.

However, Mr. Waddoups said the occupancy rate was higher in July during Ogden Pioneer Days and is sold out for the national gem and mineral society convention that opens Aug. 18. This increased business could bring the hotel out of the red ink.

IMMEDIATE REPAIRS

However, immediate repairs to the roof are needed. A recent rainstorm damaged the ceiling in the Galleon, a private club on top of the building.

Roof repairs, boiler maintenance and other work may cost about $9,880, according to bids received.

One of the tenants, Fishburn World Travel, Inc., is moving from the lobby on the mezanine into offices at Ramada Inn.

The Movie, a theater off the lower lobby, is no longer operating. Otherwise, tenants in offices on the sixth floor as well as the Galleon are continuing to lease space.

Revenue from commercial occupants totaled $3,704 in June; from transients, $3,677, and from permanent guests $6,413.

FEDERAL HELP

The county has applied for federal assistance to remodel the building.

The deficit status could be only temporary. Rent paid for state and county agencies in other buildings will be saved and returned to the general fund.

The County Commission placed the Ben Lomond under the Weber County Industrial Development Bureau but agrees to reimburse the bureau for any deficits that may accrue.