LEHI — The hot lamp of a media camera shining on Frank Gehry's face was reminder alone that in the pop-culture world, this man is famous.
However, sitting down with the world-renowned architect in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, it was easy to get the impression he'd rather you not know — lest his fame become a distraction.
Gehry came to Utah on Wednesday to help entrepreneur Brandt Andersen prepare Lehi city officials for a public hearing that will take place tonight. At the hearing, planning commissioners will decide whether or not to recommend that City Council members amend the city's general plan to include Andersen's development.
If the council approves the amendment, which will add a "sports entertainment" zone to the city's plan, Andersen said his project will be "two-thirds of the way" through the city's lengthy approval process. After that, construction on the project will take another five to 10 years, Andersen said.
"I'm not in a hurry to make a mistake, so I want to make sure things are done right," Andersen said.
Gehry first unveiled a conceptual plan for the 85-acre Point of the Mountain project — with blocks and bodies of water — in January. But a clearer picture of exactly what those blocks will look like in the final product is still in the making. Andersen said the development will feature a five-star hotel, housing, high-end shopping, open space, an arena and a wake-boarding lake.
Beyond that, it's a mystery what the project will look like, even to Gehry.
"I have a sense of Utah," Gehry said during an interview Wednesday. "I come here skiing and I know a lot of people that are here. I've paid attention to the Utah culture, certainly to the (Mormon) Tabernacle Choir and all of those kinds of things. I think it's going to take me time to develop an architectural language for (Utah), and that's what I'm going to be doing.
"I would guess when I'm finished, you'd look at it and say, 'Oh, that's a Frank Gehry building.' But I promise you ... it will have a relationship to Utah. I don't know how I'm going to get there, but I will."
Although Gehry's name is well known in architectural and pop-culture circles, he said his name isn't what will make this project special. He shrugs off the suggestion by talking about the group effort it will take with Andersen, himself and the community in order to have a good product.
"I don't feel like the most famous da da da," Gehry told Lehi leaders Wednesday. "I'm not that person. And when people say that, I just ... I think we've done some stuff, and people usually like it."
City Councilman Johnny Barnes said he likes what he sees so far in the project. Barnes said he was glad the project's concept hadn't changed since January, when Andersen made his last presentation.
"So many times we have dreamers, where they say their project will be one thing, then they come back later and it's a different project," Barnes said. "I am pleasantly surprised that (Andersen's project) is still going in the path that they first said. If you have someone like Frank Gehry involved in the project, it's hard to have the smoke and mirrors. It has to have some credibility to it, so I'm pleased to see it's going forward."
Since Andersen's announcement of Gehry's involvement with the project, which is projected to cost billions of dollars, some have expressed skepticism of Andersen's ability to finance such a large-scale endeavor. Andersen said no one has ever spoken their doubt to him face-to-face, but the 29-year-old real estate developer has heard the rumors all the same.
To him, the suggestion that the project could not happen because of financial reasons is ridiculous and unfounded.
"As far as the financing goes, I've had multiple offers on the property for the project," Andersen said. "I haven't gotten serious with anyone yet because I'm waiting until the project gets approved (by Lehi). I'm not going to open my financial statements to the world, but this property is likely worth, raw, 30 or 40 million dollars. I don't owe 10 cents on it.
"One of the reasons this (project) will happen and others won't is that I'm not looking for other people to sink their money into my dream. I put my own money into it."
E-mail: achoate@desnews.com