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Show Controversy Centers On Ft. Douglas Land According to L. Ralph Mecham, vice president for Economic and Community Development, the land, located cast cf Foothill Boulevard below the University Medical Center, Cen-ter, may be disposed of by the About 500 acres of land, which are part of the Ft. Douglas property, prop-erty, were the center of controversy controver-sy between University and local government officials in early March. land if it is declared excess property? prop-erty? University officials would like to see it used for a research park, stated Mecham. "City and county officials have expressed some agreement with a spokesman of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) who suggested suggest-ed the land be used for a model city within a city," Mecham explained. They believe that local government can gain a large increase in taxes, he said. "But, I believe that by using the plished. Ft. Douglas lands sv not be used." s Mr. Mecham said, "Duri Utah Legislature provided research park." Mr met with County ' present his argument for th , ,.; versity. "e k No Decision Made According to Sen. Moss, Sec, tary of Interior Stewart ikf sured that no decision on thW erty had been made. If the W declared in excess, the Bureau Land Management will allocate ft property. The controversy arose after tt announcement that the Vniverl' would receive 7.15 acres 0f R Douglas property, located east q; the Annex. The land will be Uset by the physical plant, stated M, Mecham. f federal government. "We are hoping hop-ing that the University will receive rights to the land, if the government govern-ment decides the land is excess property," said Mecham. What To Do With The Land? The controversy stems around the question : what will be done with the land for a research park they could gain 10 times as much revenue," said Mecham. Team Views Land The HUD spokesman was a member mem-ber of an investigation team sent by the federal government to Salt Lake City. They came to look at the property and to discuss with local officials possible future uses of it. President James C. Fletcher spoke in favor of the research park plan at the Industry Service Programs Pro-grams Luncheon, Feb. 26. "T h e establishment of a research park will be the University's first all-out all-out effort to bring national industry to Utah to give institutions a place to think, to generate new ideas and test them for maximum, profitable results," said Fletcher. Under such a park, land would be leased out to companies and individual in-dividual research teams. Furthermore, Pres. Fletcher stated, stat-ed, "There is a tendency for manufacturing manu-facturing to follow research and this, the by-product of a research park that will mean most to Utahns." Model City Shows Trends If the property were used to build a model city, the housing, churches, and business buildings would typify the modernistic design that is the leading trend today. Senator Frank Moss of Utah stated, "I am not opposed to the idea of a model city within a city mentioned by the investigating team, but there are many other locations lo-cations of the Salt Lake area where such a program could be accom- |