Farmer’s Grain Co-op demolition gets underway in Ogden
Mar 5, 2024, 6:42 PM | Updated: Mar 6, 2024, 9:57 am
OGDEN — An old landmark is coming down in Ogden to make way for an industrial complex.
Demolition is underway on the massive Farmers Grain Co-op, just off 24th Street in Ogden.
It was built in 1941 to serve 2,000 farmers in Utah and Southern Idaho.
It’s a big part of the skyline as you pass through Ogden along Interstate 15, and as you can imagine, a lot of people are sad to see it go.
“I grew up just literally a mile from here as a child when this was all pheasant hunters and farmers,” Tyson Sugihara said.
He had to come and see for himself after he heard the old Farmers Grain Co-op was coming down.
He’s seen the area grow and transform.
“It’s unfortunate that we don’t have the farms to support the grain storage any longer that this community was based off of,” Sugihara said.
Someone else who’s watched that change slowly happen is Dean Martini.
“Yeah. Been a farmer all my life,” Martini said.
He used the grain co-op here up until the day it shut down a few years ago. It was a place where farmers could sell their grain to be re-sold later.
It initially was built to store up to 500,000 bushels in its 49 silos.
Martini said, “I thought it was, it was pretty good. For us, it was very convenient, economical, and a good business.”
A company called Patriot Rail is extending access to the Utah Central Railroad and plans to build an industrial complex called the West Haven Transload Facility at the co-op location.
It will span just over 17 acres.
Martini said, “We now have to haul our grain to a different place. Much farther.”
A lot of people expressed mixed feelings about the loss of the massive co-op.
“Being a historical landmark of Ogden and something that most people that live in this area recognize, it’s, it’s sad. But I also understand progress,” Sugihara said.
Patriot Rail released a statement that said the site will serve as a focal point for import or export ventures allowing partners to capitalize on regional and national distribution networks.
This site is not tied to a nearby Utah Department of Transportation project for a complete interchange at 24th Street and I-15.
