Utah Heritage Foundation

Proposed Development Plan for Pleasant Grove Civic Center

Position Statement 

September 2, 2011

Utah Heritage Foundation strongly believes that the proposed Pleasant Grove civic center development plan has the potential to immensely impact the Pleasant Grove National Register Historic District through the demolition of fourteen National Register-listed historic structures.  We urge the Mayor and City Council to reconsider the proposed development plan putting rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, and historic preservation of the city’s unique structures at the forefront.  Considering the reuse of structures is a wise approach, not only from the viewpoint of preserving the city’s character, but also an approach that puts environmental and financial sustainability first.

How you can help

Deliver your comments to the following elected and administrative officials at Pleasant Grove City:

Mayor Bruce Call                                mayor@pgcity.org

Cindy Boyd, City Council                     cindytboyd@gmail.com

Val Danklef, City Council                    vdanklef@gmail.com

Lee Jensen, City Council                     groupjensen@comcast.net

Kimberly Robinson, City Council         krobinson@pgcity.org

Jeff Wilson, City Council                     jwilson@pgcity.org

Please copy Utah Heritage Foundation with your comments.  Send them to Kirk Huffaker, Executive Director at kirk@utahheritagefoundation.org.

Mention any or all of the following points:

            • Demolishing 17 registered historic buildings will create a void in the National Register Historic District that is unacceptable.

            • A sustainable approach for Pleasant Grove’s future is important, one that includes historic preservation and adaptive use.

            • Request that the city reconsider the proposed development plan for the civic center, putting historic preservation first.

            • Request that the city not purchase or demolish any properties within the proposed development plan area until funding to build a new structure has been secured.

Preservation Issues

Pleasant Grove’s National Register Historic District could be dismantled by an ambitious new plan for its traditional town center.  Historically the location of the first settlement in the Battle Creek Fort, the town center currently has many of the major elements needed for a successful and walkable downtown:  city hall, fire station, recreation center, library, open space and playgrounds, business district, and attractive housing.

Recently proposed by Pleasant Grove City, the development plan aims to build five major and separate new city structures including a city hall, library, police station, fire station, and arts center within the historic district.  The proposed plan consumes one full block that is already occupied by residential structures with a new city park.

In order to execute this plan, the city would need to obtain and demolish twenty-five buildings, many of those being private residences.  Seventeen of these buildings are historic and were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 as part of the Pleasant Grove Historic District.  While we respect the city’s desire for larger or modern facilities to serve its residents, building new municipal structures should not come at the expense of demolishing economically viable historic structures that are currently being used and can continue to be used for the foreseeable future.

City Policy Supports Historic Preservation

In the past five years, Pleasant Grove City has published several policy documents that support historic preservation.

In 2008, the city published the following as their Downtown Vision Statement at the beginning of the Downtown 2020 Plan:

           “Downtown Pleasant Grove will become a vibrant village of mixed uses, promoting a pedestrian friendly atmosphere and providing excellence in landscaping and    architecture, in a setting which honors and preserves the past while promoting the future.”  We believe that this statement clearly communicates a desire for a vibrant  historic preservation program.

Developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Main Street is a popular, successful national program communities implement for downtown revitalization.  Main Street’s four point approach was included in the Pleasant Grove Downtown 2020 Plan as the training model and methodology.  While the four points do not specifically include historic preservation, they also do not include demolition.  On the contrary, economist Donovan Rypkema has noted that “there is not one single successful downtown revitalization program in the United States that does not have historic preservation and rehabilitation as a key element of its plan.”

In January 2006, a panel of national planning, design, economic, and revitalization experts prepared a R/UDAT report for Pleasant Grove.  R/UDAT, or rural/urban design assistance team, is a program of the American Institute of Architects that provides a comprehensive look at the strengths and weaknesses, challenges and opportunities of a community from an outside perspective.  This report notes the benefits of historic preservation in several sections:

            Challenges and Opportunities:  “There appears to be an opportunity to make it easier to find Pleasant Grove, and to differentiate it from other cities in the valley. Increasing the visibility and aware­ness of Downtown Pleasant Grove and the heritage and culture of the city will encourage travelers to visit.”

            The Block and the Building:  “The preservation and renewal of historic buildings should be facilitated to affirm the continuity and evolution of society.”

            Preservation and New Development:  “Strengthen protections for historic buildings;” “Encourage the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings.”

The R/UDAT report also recommends building a city hall that combines several city functions into one structure.  Building one structure could have many positive aspects:  increase the efficiency of city functions; streamline the construction of several new city structures; preserve open space and historic structures that are not city owned; and, free-up additional space in existing buildings for other public or private uses.  However, the proposed civic center plan does not follow that recommendation.

The Pleasant Grove General Plan (2007) reinforces the conclusions of the R/UDAT report by including the following statement:

            Preservation and New Development:  “Preserve and rehabilitate contributing historic buildings, redevelop inadequate non-contributing buildings, and develop new infill development on vacant sites.”

The R/UDAT study (2006), Pleasant Grove General Plan (2007), Downtown 2020 Plan (2008),  and Civic Center Proposed Development Plan Request for Proposals (2010) all incorporated strong policy statements to support historic preservation and turn of the century design in downtown Pleasant Grove.  However, by proposing the demolition of seventeen viable historic structures, we believe the city is moving in the opposite direction of their stated policies.

History

Built between 1853-1945, the types, styles, and materials used in this district cover a broad spectrum.  It features turn-of-the-century dwellings and increasingly rare architectural forms such as the hall-parlor, temple-form, crosswing and double crosswing, and central-block-with-projecting-bays house types employing Gothic Revival, Federal, Italianate, and Victorian styling.  Various bungalow types and styles built between 1914 and the early 1930s, English Tudor and English Cottage styles built in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and an Art Moderne style, are also represented within the district boundaries.  Many of the houses built before 1890 are of adobe or a locally quarried stone known as soft-rock.

According to the published plan, seventeen structures contributing and listed structures within the Pleasant Grove National Register Historic District are threatened with demolition by this plan.  This includes many of the city’s prominent religious and residential structures that were constructed subsequent to the 1850 pioneer fort.  The structures include the following:

55 East 200 South                                Victorian Eclectic                                 Orpheus Dance Hall/Old Gym

41 East 200 South                                Prairie School                                       LDS Seminary

119 East 200 South                              Vernacular, Greek Revival                  Ashton-Driggs House

139 East 200 South                              Post-war cottage

155 East 200 South                              Post-war cottage

171 East 200 South                              Post-war cottage

191 East 200 South                              Neoclassical Bungalow                        Franklin Banks House

90 E. Center St.                                     Arts & Crafts Bungalow                       John Huchel House

108 E. Center St.                                  Bungalow

146 E. Center St.                                  Bungalow

182 E. Center St.                                  Vernacular, Crosswing                        Louis P. Lund House

133 East 100 South                              Bungalow

150 East 100 South                              Bungalow

161 East 100 South                              Bungalow                                               Charles J. Olsen House

189 East 100 South                              Victorian Eclectic cottage                   Lewis Lund House

190 East 100 South                              Vernacular, Hall-Parlor

160 South 200 East                              Bungalow

Several buildings in Pleasant Grove were listed on the National Register individually prior to the historic district in 1995.  For example, the Ashton-Driggs House (119 East 200 South) is one of the finest examples of the Greek Revival style in the state.  Built in 1865, its monumentalism is expressed in local stone that is two feet thick.  The building also served as an important residence for early town settlers, as well as the father of the nationally renowned King Sisters.  Yet it is threatened with demolition by the proposed town center development plan, to be replaced by a park.

Only five National Register-listed structures that have been spared by the proposed development plan, all of which are owned either by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers or Pleasant Grove City.  These include:

61 South 100 East                                Vernacular, Greek Revival                 Old Bell School

95 South 100 East                                Vernacular, Hall-Parlor                       DUP Pioneer Cabin

107 South 100 East                              Vernacular, Greek Revival                 Pleasant Grove Town Hall

155 South 100 East                              Vernacular                                            Jacob Winter Corral

35 S. Main Street                                 Art Moderne                                        Pleasant Grove City Hall

While these five significant structures are important to save, doing so does not adequately recognize the full breadth of Pleasant Grove’s history as they are all public buildings.  Therefore, Utah Heritage Foundation strongly encourages the reconsideration of the proposed town center development plan by Pleasant Grove City.