MURRAY, Utah — Murray’s Redevelopment Agency is torn between preserving history and revitalizing downtown as the city decides the fate of the old city hall building.
Murray’s city hall has sat on 50th South and State Street for 40 years. Before that, the building was the historic old Arlington School building.
“This building has been valuable to generations of Murray schoolchildren and their families,” said Rachel Morot, vice president of the Historic Murray First Foundation.
Now that city hall is moving to a new location two blocks away, councilmembers are discussing what to do with the existing property.
The Historic Murray First Foundation hopes the city can find developers to renovate and use the existing building.
“We are losing bits and pieces out of our historic fabric to the point where it's almost unrecognizable,” said Morot.
Real estate agent T. Orden Yost was hired by the city to explore options for the property. He told the board on Tuesday that a multi-family use development is best.
“This needs to be an income-producing property that produces taxes,” he said.
An appraisal found the 6-acre property to be worth over $ 14 million.
“The uses that could go into this [existing] building are very few. Those uses are not going to generate the kind of income or taxes the city is looking for,” said Yost.
“Not every opportunity and every empty space should become an apartment complex,” said Murray homeowner Clark Bullen. “The city should really consider what is best for the community in general.”
The current zoning allows for up to ten stories. The Murray Redevelopment Agency will revisit that next meeting.
“Our quality of life here has decreased as a result of population growth,” said one public commenter.
“Vibrancy is important when you’re trying to re-do downtown. It takes people to create vibrancy,” said another speaker.
To read more from the Historic Murray First Foundation on the history of the Arlington School, click here.
