The Best Show in Town?

The Best Show in Town?

The other day I discovered a faculty member with her grandkids peering through the fence in front of the George S. Eccles Business Building and I asked her why she brought her grandchildren to campus to watch construction work.

She looked at me like I was missing the obvious and said, “Because it’s the best show in town.”

Students stop to look at the Huntsman Hall construction. (From left to right: Nicole Jaggi, Ashok Atmakur, and Thimma Reddy Kalua)

We have a lot of things we want to accomplish with this new building but we have never thought that providing entertainment to the masses would be one of them. I was also surprised that, when compared to the all the things going on in Logan, someone would consider construction work as the best show in town. Our own Natalee Champlin has found so much to do in Logan that she has launched her own business and website called “Nothingtodoinlogan.com.” On her website today, I see that she has listed nearly a dozen events going on and that’s in addition to the productions being put on by the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, that draws people from near and far.

I know Steve Eaton has not been too keen on all the activities going on in front of the business building. That’s because his office is in the basement and as they pounded and pounded to break the concrete and to move massive amounts of dirt and rock right next to his office wall, the noise has startled him enough to send him running to a different cave more than once. He said he felt he was about to be the next casualty in a “Transformer” movie where giant robots angrily stomp toward each other as they rush to battle.

I guess if we are providing some entertainment to a few people during the hot days of August, that’s a good thing. I have to admit, I have stopped myself to watch the work underway. There’s something fascinating about seeing new construction unfold, especially when it promises progress and something lasting about to be created. Maybe it is the best show in town. It’s nice that with this construction can also provide entertainment.

Ken Snyder