Critics call Garfield School sale unfair

Sugar House » Philanthropist heir says SLC's deal with Westminster College was predetermined.

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 10/01/2009 06:35:10 PM MDT
By Derek P. Jensen

One of Utah's philanthropic powerhouses is accusing Salt Lake City of practicing favoritism in the impending sale of the historic Garfield School to Westminster College, calling the deal preordained and "dark."

"We feel like they're bending over to help this institution, which they've really favored all along," says Thom Williamsen, who, along with his wife, Gail, had plans for turning the Garfield property into a Montessori-style school -- complete with a "green" renovation.

"We weren't given a fair shake," he said of the city's rejection of their plan.

Gail Williamsen, daughter of the late Utah billionaire James LeVoy Sorenson, says their Garfield proposal was misunderstood as a home for special-needs kids, while those students would comprise just a "fraction" of the student body. The innovative elementary, she argues, would be an ideal asset to the Sugar House neighborhood.

"We were the most pure," Gail Williamsen insists. "We're not doing this for profit; we're not doing this for prestige. We are bringing it back to what it's designed for -- it's a school.

"I was assured by Mayor [Ralph] Becker that he was doing this [public bidding process] for fairness. It's obvious to me that they had in mind who they wanted and they worked it. They just wanted to appear to be fair."

Becker, who said the driving force of his administration is to have open and transparent government, maintained the process "was not political" and said every effort was made to be fair.

"This so far exceeds, as near as I can tell, what the norm for what Salt Lake City has been in the past," he said.

On Monday, Westminster won the recommendation of a city selection committee to purchase the old Garfield School at 1838 S. 1500 East for $2.2 million. The Montessori school and a proposal for condos bordered by bungalows finished second and third, respectively.

The college was the first party to inquire about the surplus property. It wants the 4.6 acre campus for offices, a continuing education center, civic engagement hub, lab school for the children of faculty and, perhaps, a day care. Westminster plans to preserve the nearly 90-year-old Garfield School facade and has pledged to spend up to $11 million at the site -- the most of the three bidders. All three bidders vowed to preserve the riparian corridor in the rear that hugs Emigration Creek.

"The city never promised us anything," Westminster spokeswoman Krista DeAngelis says. "It seems like the city just believed overall our proposal was better."

Indeed, the seven-page recommendation -- posted on the city's Web page -- includes a scoring sheet and 10-point argument for Westminster. The college, it concludes, "best met" the criteria and would "best benefit" the Sugar House community.

Still, architect Alan Roberts, who would do the Montessori remodel with a geothermal heat system and energy efficient design, says listing criteria after the recommendation is "backwards."

"It's kind of like saying, 'Well, Obama was elected president. Let's have a comment period to see if we want to ratify this.'"

The city is inviting public feedback on the sale through Monday, after which, Becker will make the final call.

"They independently gave their scores," he says of the committee. "They arrived at a unanimous choice. Unless I see something that is a really significant flaw in the process... I"m inclined to support their decision."

djensen@sltrib.com

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13465223#