Geneva's gone to the "hogs"
Lee Benson - May 4, 2009

 The evidence can be seen here just west of the I-15 freeway at the corner of 600 South and Geneva Road, where the new Timpanogos Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership stands as a testament that the more things change, the more they really change.

 

Across the street from what was once the Geneva Steel Mill, a massive structure built in 1941 that helped win World War II and belched out pollutants like so many billion unfiltered Camels before it went out of business in 2001, the motorcycle store is built largely out of parts salvaged from the old mill.

 

The dealership is a unique blend of state of the art technology and old-school workmanship. Built with reclaimed steel, trusses and fixtures taken from the old Geneva Steel plant, and an old, steel watertower, Timpanogos Harley-Davidson has a historic feel that appeals to anyone who loves history especially Harley-Davidson Motorcycles. But this dealership is anything but dated, with new technologies and amenities including a riders' lounge which will have places to shower and check e-mail.

 

The roof, the lights, the trusses, the windows, the beams, the columns, the bricks, the mortar — they all used to be part of Geneva.

 

So did the wood in the desk in the office of general manager Rick Story.

 

So did Rick, for that matter.

 

He may look every bit the part of a Harley guy now — long shoulder-length graying hair, goatee, Harley rings on numerous fingers — but underneath it all beats the heart of a steel mill working man.

 

"I worked at Geneva in the 1970s. I was a union rep," Rick proudly states as he reclines behind the desk that was once some sort of hardwood siding at the steel mill.

 

 

He worked as a carpenter at Geneva in the mid-1970s when he was in his 20s and Geneva was in its heyday. As many as 5,000 people pulled shifts around the clock back then.

 

"The joke is I have to take a nap when I come to work," says Rick with a grin.

 

You have to be a recycled Geneva union man to fully appreciate that humor.

 

But as much as he appreciates paying homage to the old days and the history of the area, Rick Story quickly owns up that it wasn't his idea to raise Geneva from the ashes in the form of a motorcycle dealership. That credit goes to his business partner and the dealership's financier, Dave Tuomisto.

 

Tuomisto didn't personally work at Geneva, but his grandmother was a crane operator at the mill during the war — she was Rosie the Riveter on steroids — and his grandfather worked at the mill's power plant.

 

Tuomisto's roots and affection for Geneva run deep, and when he realized he and Story could build their new Harley dealership on property across the street from the torn-down mill, he was determined to use the future to pay homage to the past.

 

It helped that Tuomisto had just sold the Bajio Mexican restaurant chain he originated to a national chain and could afford it. No one argues that the green monument he built for $16 million could have been built for a lot less.

 

At 58,000 square feet, it may be the largest reclaimed structure in the country, not to mention the world's largest motorcycle shop. Besides the ubiquitous bikes on display and an enormous service area, there's a restaurant called "Marley's" (with a motorcycle drive-through window), flatscreen TVs, Doppler weather service, Internet access, and just in case you got a little dusty out there on the ride, showers in the back.

 

People come just to gawk. Harley executives who have seen it have been rendered speechless. Willie G. Davidson, scion of the legendary motorcycle family, called it a "Harley resort."

 

The building's grandeur hasn't hurt bike sales. Last June, the first full month it was open, Timpanogos Harley-Davidson sold 110 motorcycles. The faltering economy, falling gas prices and the winter months have since shown their effects, but for the year bike sales are still more than 700.

 

They also sell plenty of accessories, everything from Harley leathers to Harley lighters. And on one table they sell copies of Chris Dunker's book, "Dismantling Geneva Steel," a photographic record of the rise and fall of the old mill that used to belch smoke across the street.

 

Story says people come in to buy the book and ask him to autograph it.

 

"I have no idea what that's all about," he deadpans.

 

But who'd have ever thought? Here it is 30 years later, and a steel mill worker is now selling motorcycles under the same roof he used to sleep under

 

Story says people come in to buy the book and ask him to autograph it.

 

"I have no idea what that's all about," he deadpans.

 

But who'd have ever thought? Here it is 30 years later, and a steel mill worker is now selling motorcycles under the same roof he used to sleep under.

 

Click here to be taken to the Deseret News, the source of the original article.

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