Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part series in an attempt to answer questions from community members, local businesses and visitors about the city’s vision for downtown Evanston and city-owned property.

EVANSTON — City-owned property appears to be a concern of many citizens, so the Herald gathered information from Uinta County Assessor Lori Perkins. From Perkins the Herald received a list of all the properties owned by the city. There are 92 properties listed in public records. Perkins explained where and what each of those properties are and which were exempt from taxation. According to Wyoming Statute, a government-owned property can only be exempted from taxation if it is used for government purposes, including public use. 

Only 12 of the 92 properties owned by the city of Evanston are taxed — the other 80 are exempt.  Perkins said the process for tax-exempt status requires the city to file an application with the county, and the county has to approve the status.

Included in the 80 exempt properties are: 17 parks (when a subdivision is developed, a green area has to be designated to the city), three plats dedicated to be future parks, two areas for expansion of the golf course, one area for expansion of the recreation center, two recreation areas (Sulphur Creek and Spaulding Grove), five cemeteries, old and new dump sites, four access roads, four easements, two water treatment plants, two storage buildings, two water wells, four small lots (corners or triangles), four parking lots, six canals, one storm water retention, the Overthrust Ballfields, the fairgrounds and signage on 6th and Front streets.

Also included are all the buildings used daily by city employees or the community at large: the recycling center, Evanston Youth Club, Evanston Childhood Development Center, the planning and zoning building, City Hall, animal control, police department, public works, SAFV house, Depot Square buildings, Roundhouse and Railyards buildings, the house at 236 9th St., and the recreation center and Human Resource Center (both jointly owned with the county).

The 12 areas that the City of Evanston owns that are taxed are: one listed as “personal property” (mobile office, mobile boiler, loading rack, hand tools, office equipment, rail spur), four pieces of land called the Evanston Rail Center behind the New Life Baptist Church, a utilities easement for Union Tank Car, the NorthStar building, property across from the Roundhouse, land across from Union Tank Car, property next to NorthStar, property on Union Road, and a triangular piece of land on Southridge and Saddleback roads.

When questioned concerning the 92 properties the city owns, Mayor Williams and all council members agreed that the city does not want to be in the real estate business and would love to get those parcels of available land into private ownership.  

However, most of the City properties consist of easements, utilities, roads, infrastructure, old cemeteries, parks and buildings used by the public or for storage. Many of the properties have been acquired through designation when a subdivision is created.

Michael Eastman of RE/MAX Results Realty recently told the Herald that the city needs to unload the real estate it has and focus on infrastructure, such has fiber optics so companies will look seriously at coming to Evanston. He added that a cooperative effort from all government entities would be beneficial, as the public use of city-owned buildings does not cover the cost of maintenance.  

“Government shouldn’t be in real estate,” Eastman said. “They can get federal and state grants for buildings, and then they are competing with private business and private ownership.” 

Councilman Tib Ottley said, “One good thing about the city owning land is that it makes it available for Wyoming Business Council funds. A great example of a successful partnering of the city and business is the High County Behavioral Health building. We received a grant to buy the land and build the facility and now it is in private hands.”

Council members said the rail center involves a similar situation. A businessman was interested in the property, so when it came up for sale, the city purchased it, hoping to have a quick resale. Ultimately the man backed out, but the plan is to lease or sell it to private business.

“The slow economy right now makes it difficult to sell any of the property,” Williams said. “We don’t want to be landlords or in real estate.”

Evanston City Attorney Dennis Boal said, “The properties next to the recreation center, next to the golf course, and next to the fairgrounds were purchased years ago by good people in city government trying to think about the future, and times were different then, things were booming. They made the best decision they could at the time.”

Another perception of many in the community is that the city owns the old Hotel Evanston and the Strand Theater buildings.  

Evanston Urban Renewal Coordinator and Main Street Manager Jane Law states emphatically that both buildings are owned by the Urban Renewal Agency (URA). The URA is a department of the city of Evanston but raises funds for the operation and renovation of the buildings it owns. Those fundraisers include the annual Urban Renewal Ball, the Evanston BrewFest and the Jingle Bell Jaunt.

When Freeman’s Hotel and Restaurant (known also as the 1912 Hotel Evanston) closed in 1988, it left a huge gap on Front Street. In the early ’90s, there was a state referendum on the ballot to pass legal gambling in Wyoming.  A man from Denver bought the Freeman’s Hotel, planning to turn it into a casino. When the referendum did not pass, the man abandoned the hotel.

Law said the URA felt it needed to do something with the building or it would become a problem, so in 1999, the agency bought it with plans to apply for grants to fix it up and sell it. The $800,000 that has already been put into the hotel’s renovation paid for the original windows to be renovated according to preservation standards. It also paid for new windows on the first floor, the front and sides of the building to be restored and a new roof.

The City of Evanston and the State of Wyoming together applied for grants that were received. The cost to complete just the infrastructure and repair the elevator at the hotel would be $1.2 million. Law said it was never URA’s goal to keep the building, and they are currently attempting to sell it, though Law said that they have yet to see serious interest. She said plans are underway to send out a request for proposal (RFP) on the hotel and any serious offers will be considered.

After the Strand Theater burned in 2007, the URA made the decision in 2008 to take ownership of the theater and to stop renovation on Hotel Evanston. Through private fundraising, Wyoming Business Council grants, Community Development Block Grant funds, Wyoming Cultural Trust funds, and a National Endowment for the Arts grant, the Strand was rebuilt and restored. The Strand has become the Evanston Cultural Center and is used for community activities, theater and meetings.  

Council members said the city has not invested any funds in the restoration of either the Strand Theater or the Hotel Evanston, other than contributing to Law’s salary and a donation of time from the city for minor repairs.

Ottley said he was not in favor of saving the Strand building after it burned, but he now congratulates the URA on the renovation, and he said he thinks it enhances Main Street Evanston.  

“However,” he said, “I think it should be used more often in order to make it pay for itself.” 

According to Jim Davis, retired Evanston City Clerk, the URA began in Evanston in 1982. The city was still booming with the energy industry. A citizen group was concerned with the future of downtown. Davis said the planned closing of the old post office building and the possibility of the new office being built and relocated out of the historic downtown district was a major concern.    

Wyoming law allows for two forms of downtown revitalization: the Downtown Development Agency (DDA), or the formation of an Urban Renewal District (URA). Evanston chose to form an Urban Renewal Agency, with a mayor-appointed board of directors. The agency’s mission is to eliminate blight and attract both private and public investment in the designated Urban Renewal District.

Davis recalled that during the boom of the 1980s, the local oil and gas companies formed the Overthrust Industrial Association (OIA). The OIA was created to address the population growth and the boom impacts on governmental services. The OIA hired a planner to assist the city with planning issues and procedures. One of the documents produced by the OIA planner was an Urban Renewal Plan, which was formerly adopted by the city. The URA still follows many of the guidelines that were addressed in this initial plan.

Davis said that in the early 1980s, another major downtown project was the formation of an Assessment District in historic downtown Evanston. Property owners were assessed a tax for the purpose of funding several downtown improvement projects. Monies from the assessment district were used to purchase downtown property and to raze buildings for downtown parking lots and space for a new post office. 

The URA began the process of eliminating blight in the downtown by beautifying Depot Square. URA worked closely with the city planning office to prepare a plan for the redevelopment of the three-block area on Front Street. The Union Pacific Railroad donated the depot to the city in 1985, and the restoration of that historic building began in 1988. Funds for the Depot Square renovations and landscaping came from the Urban Renewal Ball proceeds, federal grants and the City of Evanston general fund revenue.   

Davis said that in 2008, the URA became a certified main street community with the Wyoming Main Street Program. This affiliation has provided Evanston with training in downtown revitalization efforts and grants through its technical assistance program. The City of Evanston has provided financial support for staffing the program manager, currently Jane Law, for managing the work of “Main Street” and the continued work of the URA.

“The city council needs to continue to support the URA and the Main Street program,” Davis said. “If you lose the vision or don’t have one, then you quit working on downtown Evanston. There are good things happening; the Roundhouse and Machine Shop are in downtown Evanston, and they are used frequently. I hear compliments about our downtown from people who come to Evanston from Utah and other parts all the time. We have what a lot of other communities hope for. Our future in Evanston is bright.”