February 27, 1999 DDO's history soon will be ? WSU ready to house papers chronicling WW II heritage WEB EXTRA: See END OF AN ERA, an in-depth feature about the history of Defense Depot Ogden at www.standard.net. By SUSAN SNYDER_ Standard-Examiner staff OGDEN - The history of Defense Depot Ogden lies tucked away in boxes and long, flat drawers. Photographs. Newsletters. Yellowed blueprints. The story of its rich military history is there, waiting to be unraveled and pieced together. And when it's all arranged, sorted and documented, it will be up to John Sillito to preserve it for posterity in the special collections area of Weber State University's Stewart Library. So far, the special collections curator has received one box of photographs, which arrived Tuesday. Most of the photos and records will remain on the property until the environmental studies are finished and every nook and cranny has been documented, said Mike Pavich of the Ogden Local Redevelopment Authority. After that, an entire set of documents, photographs, newsletters and other information documenting the base and 71 historically significant structures will be stored at the Weber State library and a duplicate set will be on file at the state historical office in Salt Lake City, said a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman. The Army had to study and document historical and cultural sites before it could sell the 1,100-acre compound to Ogden City. The deal was secured in November at a price of $5.9 million, but the actual transfer of parcels won't start until later this year, Pavich said. It is expected to go four phases, with the last of the land being turned over in October 2002. In an April 1997 report, an Ogden consulting firm hired by the Army to study the historical and cultural aspects of the former military installation recommended that the compound be declared a National Historic District and gave some guidelines for preserving its World War II heritage. Residents in some of the communities surrounding DDO have complained that the report wasn't made public. They suspect the people composing the property's reuse plan were trying to hide the recommendations so residents wouldn't insist on preservation measures that would endanger future development. Pavich says the Army ultimately was re- sponsible for deciding how DDO history would be preserved. His group didn't even see the completed history report and the Army's recommendations until early 1998, he said earlier this week. He called some of the historical aspects residents are worried about losing - including a section of the original Central Pacific railroad bed and areas in which World War II Italian and German prisoners of war were confined - "red herrings." The portions of the base on which the prisoners were kept have long since been turned over to other owners and are not part of the 1,100 acres being redeveloped, he said. One portion now lies on Weber County Fairgrounds property. And the Army tore up and destroyed the Central Pacific right-of-way when it assumed control of the installation and the rail bed in the 1940s. The compound and its buildings have undergone so many alterations over the years, the Army decided it was best to photograph and document the base under current conditions and also file away historical photos and original blueprints, said Patience Patterson, an Army archaeologist who works in the corps' regional office in Fort Worth, Texas. "(The buildings) have been altered quite a bit over the years. Some have lost their historical context and their architectural context. It no longer exists," she said. "Some of the buildings (listed) are not even there now." As for notifying the public of the existence of the consultant's study, she said the Army advertised and hosted public meetings according to the guidelines set forth in the federal code that called for the historical review. "We worked very hard to do the right thing on this," Patterson said. "There were notices of public meetings and forums to let the public know we were out there. That's definitely part of the process. It's difficult to do that stuff in a vacuum, and you wouldn't be in compliance." You can reach reporter Susan Snyder at 625-4233 or e-mail SSnyder@Standard.net. 214