Commission seeks prison site development ideas

Brice Wallace

The public will get a chance at a pair of upcoming workshops to provide ideas for the future of the Point of the Mountain area.

The area, which includes some 20,000 acres of undeveloped property in Salt Lake and Utah counties, includes the current site of the Utah State Prison, whose operations will move in a few years to a site near Salt Lake City International Airport.

The Utah Legislature’s Point of the Mountain Commission and Envision Utah, selected by the commission as a development partner, have scheduled workshops Feb. 15-16 to collect input on the area’s future development.

The first will be Feb. 15 at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium, 12033 Lone Peak Parkway, Draper. The second is Feb. 16 at the Ashton Gardens visitor center at Thanksgiving Point, 3900 N. Garden Drive, Lehi. Both will run 6-7:30 p.m. The free workshops will include opportunities for Utahns to provide input through surveys and mapping activities.

“We invite everyone to come share your vision,” said Rep. Lowry Snow, R-St. George and co-chair of the Point of the Mountain Development Commission. “We really want to hear from you. Public participation is critical to the planning effort.”

Utahns also can contribute ideas through a website, pointofthemountainfuture.org. Several hundred people already have used the site to provide input. The site also allows people to sign up for email updates about the project.

“This area is a growing job center,” said Robert Grow, president and chief executive officer of Envision Utah. “If we work together and take the right steps, it can be a place that provides jobs and a high quality of life for generations to come. We look forward to listening to Utahns’ views about how to do that.”

The Point of the Mountain Commission was created during the 2016 legislative session and consists of local officials, private-sector representatives and state officials from both the legislative and executive branches. The Legislature voted last summer for a new $550 million prison to be built at a site near Salt Lake City International Airport that had been unanimously recommended by the Prison Relocation Commission. The Draper facility opened in 1951 and is expensive to maintain. It has about 1,000 workers overseeing about 4,000 inmates and has about 1,500 people who do volunteer work there.

The 700-acre prison site in Draper is seen by some people as a potentially valuable hub for innovative technology companies, augmenting an already tech-heavy area called “Silicon Slopes.”

In October, the commission selected a team led by Envision Utah to assist in creating a strategic, publicly supported plan the area’s future. Members of the Envision Utah team are Fehr & Peers, Fregonese Associates, HOK Design, Horrocks Engineers, RCLCO Real Estate Advisors, Sherwood Design, SWCA Environmental Consultants and Zions Public Finance.

Public and stakeholder engagement is part of Phase 1 of the process, which also will involve research, conceptual visions and goals. Phase 1 is expected to last until next spring. Phase 2, from spring until early winter in 2017, will feature scenario development and modeling and public and stakeholder input on the scenarios. Phase 3, during the winter of 2017-18, will include a funding strategy, vision development, implementation and a final report.