What's Next for Building That Burned?

What's Next for Building That Burned?


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Amanda Butterfield ReportingThere's nothing left but a smoking pile of rubble where one of Ogden's most notable buildings once stood. It burned down over the weekend, and city leaders are trying to decide what will rise from the ashes.

Today the remains of the building were knocked down. The fire burned so hot -- still smoldering, and will be for the next several days.

What's Next for Building That Burned?
Photo: Marc Giauque KSL Newsradio

Giving residents a chance for one last look before it's cleared out for a new building.

It's hard to look away from this. And days later, residents who have lived here all their lives still can't believe it.

So, now what? Before we get to the future, let's look back.

Here's what the Shupe Williams building looked like when it was a working candy shop in 1913.

Lee Witten/Union Station: "Well, they made chocolates as far as I know."

"They may have made taffy's nougat."

What's Next for Building That Burned?

These are two of just a couple pictures left of the building. And unfortunately, there's not many buildings left like it now either.

Lee Witten: "We have so few of these buildings over 100 years old."

Now it'll be up to stories of those who worked here to remember it, like LouAnn Smith's husband.

LouAnn Smith: "I don't know if you've seen moon-sized suckers. He made a machine that would take and make them for them."

That's why she wants a piece of this.

LouAnn Smith: "Can we get some bricks, because my husband worked here."

The Ogden Museum is going to salvage the brick to sell for a fundraiser. As for the land:

John Patterson/Ogden City: "It's probably going to be a commercial site that will generate tax dollars to community."

Because even charred, Patterson says this land is key to Ogden's future downtown re-development. And Ogden's future generation is anxious to see what that's going to be like.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. It's next to train tracks, and a homeless shelter, so investigators are looking into whether transients started it.

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