How Woods Cross picked its City Hall architect and construction manager, and what checks show so far
Woods Cross's council conditionally approved Method Studio as architect and Hogan Construction as construction manager for the new City Hall and Hogan Park in November 2025, after scoring and public interviews. Check registers from July through September 2026 list three payments to Method Studio.
Continuing story: Auditing Woods Cross
Woods Cross's council approved Method Studio as architect and Hogan Construction as construction manager for the new City Hall on Nov. 18, 2025, according to the approved minutes. Both approvals depended on a positive recommendation from the city attorney on the final contracts. [1]
Council Member Julie Checketts moved to approve the Method Studio resolution, 2025-951, and Council Member Wally Larrabee seconded. Council Member Gary Sharp moved to approve the Hogan Construction resolution, 2025-952, and Larrabee seconded. The minutes say all voted in favor of each. [1]
The selection
The city issued requests for proposals in August 2025, according to the minutes. It received 10 proposals for construction management; the minutes say nine were received for the architect item, though they describe them as construction management firms. [1]
Ten people scored the proposals, including council members, staff and Bountiful's city engineer. The top three for each role presented and were interviewed publicly, and the council directed staff to negotiate with Method Studio and Hogan after checking references. [1]
A community development report in the same minutes says the city interviewed three architectural and three construction-management firms and narrowed the choice to two. The minutes state no fee amounts. [1]
Design changes
On July 21, 2026, after a community survey was presented, the council discussed the size of a community room in the new building. The minutes record that the architect is paid on a percentage basis, so design changes would not cost more in architect fees. [2]
Council Member Eric Jones cited an estimated impact of $600,000 to $800,000 for additional square footage, according to the minutes. No vote was taken. [2]
Checks issued
The city's July 17–Aug. 12, 2026 check register lists check 31970, issued July 30, for $35,185.10 to Method Studio for "PROGRAMMING DESIGN NEW CITY HALL." The same register lists $8,342.10 to JUB Engineers for Hogan Park easement and property work and no payments to Hogan Construction. [2]
The Aug. 27 register lists $14,037.50 to Method Studio for programming design of the new City Hall. [3]
Check 32213, issued Sept. 24, 2026, paid Method Studio $14,116.57 for architectural services for City Hall and Hogan Park. [4]
All three Method Studio payments were charged to the same capital account. [2][3][4]
The checks listed here appear in the registers The Ledger reviewed; they are not a complete payment history. The Ledger has not reviewed the executed contracts.
Sources
- Woods Cross City Council · Approved Nov. 18, 2025 minutes
- Woods Cross City Council · Aug. 18, 2026 packet (July 21 minutes, July 17–Aug. 12 check register)
- Woods Cross City Council · Sept. 1, 2026 packet (Aug. 27 check register)
- Woods Cross City Council and LBA · Oct. 6, 2026 packet (agenda, approved Sept. 15 minutes, check register)
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.