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TREMONTON — A renovated plaza designed for entertainment and farmers markets on a square where a veterans memorial now stands in downtown Tremonton is at the center of a project generating controversy and concern from locals.
The proposed project in its current form would not alter or move the monument from its location at the edge of Midland Square, 75 W. Main, but would add a stage and areas for public gatherings at the center of the plaza.
The Tremonton City Council adopted a resolution for the plaza's final design in January in front of a largely empty chamber, but area residents have flocked to subsequent meetings to voice their concerns about the plan "people are just barely finding out about," according to resident Kristie Bowcutt.
"We're not trying to desecrate anything," Mayor Lyle Holmgren said to an emotional crowd that attended a council meeting on Feb. 6. "We want to make something that's better and more useful."
"Downtown is struggling in a major, major way," Holmgren said. With an ailing Main Street lined with empty storefronts, the city has been looking for ways to bring businesses and shoppers into the area. The city worked to secure a competitive $405,000 Rural Communities Opportunity Grant to partially fund the planned $700,000 renovations to Midland Square Park, which includes a new restroom, an event stage with underground electrical vaults, and a fountain for kids to play in, according to the passed proposal.
"We don't want to give that money back," Holmgren said, and the clock is running down. Tremonton has until the fall to demonstrate progress to the state or the money may be given to another county project, according to the mayor.
The park, created on a fourth of a city block where the Midland Hotel burned down in 1995, is very personal to the community. The ground is paved with the names of many small private donors who funded the original park.
It was built in the late 1990s and early 2000s and features the North Box Elder County Veterans Memorial at Midland Square, designed by World War II veteran A.C. Christensen of Elwood, who spent 3½ years in a Japanese prison camp.
On the memorial are portraits of the four Borgstrom brothers from Thatcher who died in World War II within six months of each other, and the names of over 3,000 local veterans and their respective wars. An almost 8-foot statue of a soldier stands beside it. The monument was dedicated by President Thomas S. Monson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Aug. 18, 2001.
In 2022, the memorial was updated with an additional 75 names, and a procedure was put in place to make it possible for more northern Box Elder County veterans to be recognized.
Members of the community have attended the last few City Council meetings en masse, to voice their concern over the preservation of this park.
Julia Wardle, who has five brothers named on the monument, said, "I feel this area defines our community and the love and loyalty we have for our veterans. Midland Square was set aside and dedicated in our veterans' honor and for no other reason. I do not feel that any other activity in Midland Square is appropriate and it would completely overshadow the true purpose of the memorial."
The plan will keep the monument untouched but many want "to maintain the reverence and serenity" of the place, calling for the project to instead be built in the park bordering the city offices, or Shuman Park nearby at 200 N. Tremont Street where the city library is.
But those with businesses across the street, struggling to survive due to lack of foot traffic, said the square needs to serve an "economic purpose" in the center of town, citing the frequent closures of shops nearby.
Sara Mohrman, who worked on the plan for a new Midland Square and has a business downtown, said, "We need this — yesterday. In this last month and a half, we have had two businesses downtown close. ... I would not be surprised if we had more close this year."
Confusion in City Council
The proposal was set before the council members, two of whom were brand new, and passed Jan. 2, with one dissenting vote from Councilman Lyle Vance, who said, "We don't know what we're voting on." Others voiced hesitation, stating they didn't have enough information on the real cost of the project. Councilman Wesley Estep said, "We're gonna ask people to conserve water and then put in a fountain?"
Conflicting procedural information was provided during that meeting, as Holmgren assured members of the council that it's just a concept, and can be changed down the road, but city manager Shawn Warnke said, "Fundamentally, what you see is what you are approving."
At the next council work session, new Councilman Jeff Hoedt said, "I was disappointed in myself because I voted on this item without being able to make an informed vote. I did not have enough information. The resolution that we adopted did not state what the problem was and did not have any kind of goal for accountability to see if we succeed in the project. Yet I voted for it."
Now, public comments and an effort to clear up confusion are slowing the progress of any further work. The city originally hoped to start bidding out work by April, but it remains unclear if the public comments heard by the council will have any effect on the project, as it has already been approved. Tremonton officials did not immediately respond for comment.
A spokesperson from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity told KSL.com, "In light of the concerns of the Veterans Memorial at Midland Square, we're open to reviewing and accepting modifications to the location, timeline and scope of the project and recognize communities know their economic needs best. We understand community input can take additional time for a project's success and want to provide flexibility to pivot or modify plans for communities to thrive."
The monument and the city
Colleen Johnson was the president of the Tremonton Beautification Committee when the park and monument were built. She told the council on Feb. 6 that the monument was an afterthought to the design of the park, and said, "I apologize to anyone that might be offended at the placement, because that's my fault.
"When we first started Midland Square, it was to boost the economy of Tremonton, and to get more traffic downtown," she said. "This is crazy that we have adequate buildings downtown that are empty. I can't buy a pair of shoes to go to church in."
The intent of the monument, and what it has grown to symbolize over the 20 years of residents driving by and spending time with it, have diverged. Johnson said the city should do "anything we can get to occupy our buildings," but others are not so sure.
Marianne Valenta told the council, "Progress does not require destroying everything old. ... If even a few things could be kept in the plan, I believe it would show appreciation to the original community donors that turned the Midland Hotel ashes into something lovely."
