Bringing Back Ben Lomond

OGDEN -- Chandeliers are being cleaned, elevators are under repair and parking lot potholes have been patched by the new owners of the Ben Lomond Hotel.
Bill Gavan said his newly formed California-based company, Ben Lomond Suites LLC, acquired the hotel last month at a foreclosure sale after the previous owner, 2510 Washington LLC, defaulted on a $7.3 million loan from him and his brother, Gary, issued in 2005.
Phillips Law Office LLC and several other tenants that occupy space in the Ben Lomond are independently owned and have not been involved or affected by the foreclosure, Gavan said.
The Gavans are the majority owners of Ben Lomond Suites LLC, while 31 other investors hold a minority interest in the company.
The Ben Lomond fell into foreclosure because 2510 Washington LLC incurred too much debt and not enough revenue to keep it afloat, Gavan said. Las Vegas-based UIG Resorts had controlling interest in 2510 Washington LLC while M&D Ventures Inc. had a minority interest, said Dan Tabish, an Ogden resident and a M&D Ventures shareholder.
UIG officials refused several months ago to meet with M&D Ventures shareholders to discuss the Ben Lomond's financial problems to stave off the foreclosure, said Tabish.
Officials with UIG could not be reached for comment. The company maintains a Web site at www.uigglobal.com, but its phone has been disconnected.
The Ben Lomond will likely remain independent of national hotel chains, said Gavan, who wants the inn returned to its former grandeur.
"We feel it has lots of potential and should be something the city is proud of," he said.
Richard McConkie, the city's deputy director of community and economic development, is hopeful the Ben Lomond will once again become a local showplace.
"I'm optimistic the new owners will have the resources to restore the Ben Lomond to its former prestige as a landmark hotel," he said.
The site the Ben Lomond occupies has been home to a hotel since the White House Hotel was built there in 1868. The current building was built in 1927 as the Bigelow Hotel. It operated under the Radisson Suites flag from 1984 until 1999.
Previous owners shut the doors in November 2002 because of sluggish business and stayed closed through all of 2003. Tabish and business partner Jeff Van Dyke reopened the hotel in early 2004 after purchasing it from 67 shareholders.