OGDEN — The Weber County Heritage Foundation, being a key stakeholder in the Union Station, was set to hear updates Wednesday from Ogden City regarding the historic downtown building and surrounding campus. The much anticipated private meeting, however, has been postponed in order to include members of the public.

Executive Director Katie Nelson said the foundation has received many inquiries about the meeting and topics up for discussion, such as the Union Station campus.

“We believe a more public forum is needed, and we have encouraged the city to host a public meeting where all plans can be laid out and the public can be heard,” Nelson said.

In an email, Nelson directed foundation members to a recent article in the Standard-Examiner detailing claims the city plans to gut the Union Station building and its museums.

According to Steve Jones, chairman of the Golden Spike Railroad Historical Society, concerns about the fate of the building have swirled since at least 2019. He pointed to a situation when access to the facility’s trainman’s building by a California contractor looking to restore and preserve locomotives housed at the station were denied by Damen Burnham, the current redevelopment manager for Ogden City, who at the time oversaw management of Union Station.

With the Heritage Foundation’s recommendation for a public meeting, Jones said he hopes the city will be open and honest about Union Station plans instead of following what he characterized as officials’ normal approach of hiding and doing what they want until it’s too late to do anything about it.

There are no plans to gut the Union Station, according to the Make Ogden downtown master plan. Rather, it describes restoring the historic building and building out on the surrounding campus in the hope of making it an economically viable resource for Ogden.

“Clearly there is a need for more transparency and intentional community engagement from the city,” said Angel Castillo, a local activist and former member of the Ogden Planning Commission.

The challenge with the current city administration, according to Castillo, is a desire to check boxes rather than working with and engaging community members to be a part of the process, a criticism she extended to events surrounding the Marshall White Center.

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