SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Speculation and concern are growing about future of Hill Air Force Base. Announcements about the base and other military installations across the country will begin coming down Friday from the federal government.
On Thursday State Senator Jerry Stevenson, a Republican from District 21, talked about the possibility of losing all or some of the base up at the state capitol."This is a big deal for the state of Utah. If the base closes we would lose thousands and thousands of jobs." There are currently 5,400 military personnel, 12,000 civilian workers who are paid by the government and another 3,500 private workers who provide services and work on the base.
If the base were to close or even if it lost some of those workers the impact on businesses located just outside the gates of the military base would be incredible. PC Laptops, which is just outside the South entrance to Hill Air Force Base believes at least 20 percent of its customers come from the base. While employees like Brandon Frazier believe it would hurt business it wouldn't shut it down. "It would cut into sales and service, but it wouldn't be too bad of a loss."
The folks at Ligori's Pizza, about three blocks from the base, see it differently. Manager Marcella Alomia says, "A lot of our business comes from there." And she says losing a significant number of customers could mean losing a job.
Dave Hoch, a teacher at Northridge High School agrees."I think it would be devastating for people who depend on the base for their livelihood." He goes on to say that if the base closed or lost a big portion of its workforce it would hurt the economy and change the community. "Just in this area it would impact high schools - the four junior high schools and it would close one or two of them because they just wouldn't have the population anymore."
