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OGDEN — The LDS Ogden Temple open house is already on track to bring some 600,000 to 700,000 visitors to the area, according to Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell. That's six times what the area saw during the Winter Olympics in 2002.
"One of the things we're really excited about is the chance to re-introduce our downtown and a lot of the work that's been done here over the last 10 years," Caldwell said.
Area businesses are excited for the additional visitors too. For example, Farr's Ice Cream expanded its offerings just for the open house. Two additional service areas have been added in the back of its shop — one for ice cream and another for shaved ice.
"We were expecting a lot, but it's more than I had in my mind," employee Mary Riter said.
Riter said she's never seen crowds this large before, with the exception of the store's 90th anniversary.
"You would think that most everyone who goes over there to the temple comes over here," Riter said.
Caldwell said restaurants around the area are reporting a similar increase in business. He also believes the area can continue to enjoy an economic boom to some degree after the open house is over. He said the temple will continue to draw more people than it did before the renovation.
"Some of the estimates — and when you look at the building's capacity now — would be that we'll see between 500 to 600 weddings a month," Caldwell said. "Before it was renovated, we saw five to six."
Some 7,000 volunteers helped the city prepare for the open house, painting and cleaning up parts of downtown. In addition, more than 300 volunteers are serving as city ambassadors, welcoming visitors and giving them information about Ogden.
"We saw this as a real unique opportunity for Ogden to show that it's been re-invented," Caldwell said, pointing out that many visitors were seeing for the first time how much the downtown has changed over the past decade.
While traffic to the area won't be nearly as busy as it is now, area businesses welcome any lasting boost to the area. At Farr's Ice Cream, supervisor Sharon Boothe says they can always adjust.
"Not overwhelming yet," Boothe said. "We still have some time though."
