Comments on: LOCAL: Nu Skinning: In Downtown Provo, Bigger Isn't Necessarily Better

By: Resident 2

Resident 2 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:10:25 +0000

Having worked on Center Street for the last 10 years, I must say I’m enthusiastic about this renovation. There are some great businesses already operating there, but there are also too many buildings and spaces that have been vacant for years and are an eye-sore, and instead of vintage or historic, they come across to the city’s visitors as just dilapidated and maybe even a little scary. Creating more convention space will definitely attract more audiences and events to the area on a regular basis and eventually, I do believe this will create more jobs, if not at Nu Skin, opportunities for other businesses to move into Center Street and grow! I know Nu Skin usually has at least one weekend a month that several hundred guests come in from around the country and provide patronage to many of our local businesses, so it would be interesting to ask the other restaurants and stores how they fair during those times, and imagine their revenue if that happened nearly every weekend instead of once a month because of other conventions or events? And you know these visitors are not just going to stay on Center Street, we have lots of great eating establishments and shopping areas that are quite close by, and any increase to the local population, even short term, then would benefit many!
P.S. It’s probably likely that Nu Skin obtained permission from the City to paint their logo in the middle of the intersection for a few months during their 25th anniversary last year, just as BYU has obtained permission to paint giant Y’s all down University Avenue intersections all year long, don’t you think?

By: Nu Skinning: In Downtown Provo, Bigger Isn’t Necessarily Better | Utah People's Post

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:02:46 +0000

[...] Yet before the city rushes to raze large swaths of Center Street, it’s worth considering what the trade-offs will be….click here to continue reading [...]

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:07:24 +0000

I second what “Resident” says. “Historic” downtown Provo isn’t working because it is not drawing area residents or businesses downtown. I think the NuSkin expansion and the new county convention center will be major pluses for downtown. I agree that the Zion’s Bank Tower is not the nicest building to look at, but it is a step in the right direction to creating a more vibrant downtown and establishing downtown Provo as the place to do business in Utah County.

By: Randal

Randal — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:27:31 +0000

I always wondered how NuSkin was allowed to paint their logo on the street too. I wish more local residents would invest in downtown rather than the big businesses.

By: Resident

Resident — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:19:03 +0000

Having gone to junior high and high school in Provo, and maintaining residency since then (a total of 14 years), I can honestly say I never considered the Hotel Roberts or the St. Francis Roman Catholic Church as landmarks. I do remember the church though, and how it looked unoccupied year after year. There are parts of ‘downtown’ Provo that have done well at maintaining the historic look. But drive down 100 North and it’s a different story. I applaud your desire to keep the rustic/vintage look of the city live, but you said yourself, Provo is lacking. It seems the historic aspect isn’t working, so maybe trying to update the area a little bit will help. I liked the article though, not terribly negative like a lot of the stuff around here, and it actually begged some good questions.