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SOUTH OGDEN — For the past 13 years, a non-profit that helps victims of sexual assault has enjoyed very low rent inside an old building owned by South Ogden City. City leaders have considered selling the building or having it torn down for a developer.
For over a dozen years, Northern Utah Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, or NUSANE, has offered sexual assault victims a quiet, private location for forensic exams, away from the chaos of the emergency room. They may have to move. NUSANE Executive Director Jean Lee Carver said finding a similar setup would not be easy.
“South Ogden has been very generous with us,” Carver said. “They gave us this facility rent free for the first six months, and since that time, we’ve only paid $250 a month to be here, which is huge.”
The former city hall building – which has also housed the city’s Parks and Recreation Department – and a senior center, were built around 1970. City manager Matthew Dixon said the building was due for upwards of $200,000 in work on a new roof and an HVAC system. The mayor and city council members were looking at another option – selling the land to a developer for around $800,000.
“It’s not an easy decision to think of the consequences that this decision might have to a group such as NUSANE,” Dixon said. “It would be our hope that other jurisdictions that benefitted greatly over the years and continue to from NUSANE services would all get to the table and help us help NUSANE find another home.”
Carver said a similar space in a commercial building could increase their rent by 2000 percent.
“We’ve been able to stay solvent, largely part because of South Ogden City,” Carver said. “Of course we don’t want to move. We’ve worked very hard to make this a patient-friendly environment.”
NUSANE serves Weber, Davis, Box Elder, and Morgan counties. Carver said she believed someone would step forward to help them survive, but she doesn’t know who yet.
“You can’t walk away from something like this,” Carver said. “You can’t shut your doors. We’ll have to find someplace else.”
Carver said the decision comes at a time when NUSANE’s services are in higher demand than ever. With media attention drawn to the #MeToo movement, she said more sexual assault survivors are coming forward. She estimated NUSANE will have served roughly 300 in 2018; double what they served in 2017.
“It’s unfortunate this is happening now, because people are looking for help,” Carver said.
The city council was expected to discuss the future of the building and land in their Nov. 20 meeting.
