Assistant Attorney General William Loos, in an opinion requested by the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said that because Ogden tried - albeit with limited success - to create a high-tech center, the city did not violate the intent of the grant.

Nor did the city violate the grant by reselling the property, Loos said.

Dorothy Littrell, an Ogden property owner, had complained to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and the economic-development office that Ogden had violated several terms of the Industrial Assistance Fund grant, which was approved by the 2002 Legislature.

Ogden first began lobbying for $1 million in the 2001 Legislature, and described the proposed high-tech center as a campus where engineers and other high-tech workers could be trained through high school and college classes. Incubator and laboratory space would be available for businesses.

Only the DaVinci Academy for the Arts and Sciences, a charter high school, ever moved into the massive American Can complex, and the city had no luck enlisting universities or corporate tenants.

The property has been resold several times between limited partnerships and foundations, and was purchased at the end of last year by a developer from Steamboat Springs, Colo.

It is now being remodeled into an office building and will house Amer Sports, a ski-and-sports-watch maker that is relocating to Ogden this summer.

Ogden City also plans to move its Business Information Center, which helps small-business owners, into the American Can complex.

The grant agreement between the city and state said the state could ask for its money back if the city ever sold American Can for some use other than a high-tech center, Loos said.

"Whenever Ogden transferred this particular property, it was always, as has been represented to us, done pursuant to the development of different aspects of the project," Loos said.

The attorney also noted that while the discussion in legislative committees swirled around a high-tech and research campus, the Legislature did not mandate a specific use of the $900,000 grant.

Ogden used the money to pay for roughly half of the American Can complex. The city also received a $2 million federal grant that paid for half the construction of a new parking terrace next to the historic structures.

Littrell was not immediately available for comment Friday.

kmoulton@sltrib.com