Proposed American Fork Canyon visitor's center gets $1.6M

(Daily Herald) Congress has bestowed a chunk of funding for a visitor's center at the mouth of American Fork Canyon.

In June, Rep. Jim Matheson's office announced that at Matheson's request, $1.6 million toward the project had been added to a funding bill. Highland recently announced that that money has now been finalized.

Though the money won't be enough to even begin construction, there is a silver lining. The mere fact that Congress has begun funding the building likely means that over time, they will finish funding it.

"It is a likelihood," said Timpanogos Cave superintendent Denis Davis in an interview.

It is unclear why the amount was $1.6 million. Highland is paying $5,000 a month to a lobbyist, hoping to pry $8 million from Uncle Sam's pockets to complete the building. A Matheson staffer has said the $1.6 million is a direct result of the work of Highland to push the building to reality.

"It's new money for the engineering and design work," said Davis. "Now we will be able to continue that."

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