Provo OKs $45M plan for downtown

(Daily Herald) In a pair of regularly scheduled Tuesday meetings, county commissioners and Provo council members launched a $45 million plan to significantly reshape Provo's downtown.

The millions come from the county, through a bond, to build a much ballyhooed downtown convention center.

"We have done six years of due diligence on this. It's not something we concocted over the weekend," Commissioner Steve White said.

Provo's end of the bargain is to provide the land and build a parking structure, the plans for which will most likely be brought forward in December, redevelopment agency director Paul Glauser said. He expected a new hotel to be announced soon after.

The Provo Municipal Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to authorize the mayor to make an interlocal agreement with the county and work out real estate purchase agreements for the land in downtown Provo. There was no public comment.

"I would say that acquiescence means you're all in favor of it, and so are we," Council Chairwoman Cynthia Dayton told the audience.

Multiple areas of the county were considered for the project, including east of the University Mall in Orem and on land near Thanksgiving Point. Commissioners settled on the Provo location in part because it's near the only full service hotel in the county -- the Provo Marriott.

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