Utah Heritage Foundation

Proposed Development Plan for Pleasant Grove Civic Center

Position Statement 

September 2, 2011

Samuel Newhouse was one of Salt Lake City's most wealthy mining moguls. He had aspirations to build the "Wall Street of the West" right here in Salt Lake City, and it was called Exchange Place. Newhouse donated the land to build several commercial buildings including Salt Lake's first skyscrapers – the Boston and Newhouse buildings. Exchange Place Turned 100 last year and we are celebrating a belated birthday with FREE Summer Tours.  Come see areas of many of the buildings not available to the public and insights into what each one means to downtown Salt Lake.

Exchange Place, Salt Lake City

The Exchange Place Historic District, designated in 1978, is the city's only purely commercial local historic district.

Historic Yalecrest National Register District Up For $25,000 Prize

With Enough Votes Neighborhood Can Win Money for Education and Marketing

Salt Lake’s Yalecrest neighborhood, with one of the finest collections of Period Revival homes in the state, has an opportunity to win a $25,000 prize from the National Trust for Historic Preservation as part of the annual “This Place Matters” national competition.

The Salt Lake Tribune has reported that the historic Garfield County Courthouse in Panguitch will under a rehabilitation that includes a seismic upgrade.  This is great news for Panguitch, an amazingly intact historic town, as well as the Wayne County region which has several small communities that attract visitors and new residents because of their aesthetic charm.  Roughly half of the historic county courthouses remain throughout Utah, so rehabilitation of the courthouse is good news that it will ensure it's presence and use for several more decades.

Historic Park City Alliance recently held a photo contest in Old Town, an area that is larger listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  You might think that taking photos that demonstrate the history, sense of community, and that this historic town might have to offer would be easy.  But not so.  The 26 entries received show the range of how this community supports preservation through it's historic buildings and legacy-type events.

Check out the entries here.

In the April 2011 Community Newsletter produced by the University of Utah, among the campus projects announced was the pending demolition of Carlson Hall.  This is the first time the long-rumored new building for the U of U Law School has been publicly announced to be on the site of the historic women's residence hall turned classroom building.

Located on one of the most prominently seen sites on campus (corner of University Street @ 400 South), this structure completed in 1938, was designed by prominent SLC architects Ashton & Evans and built with WPA funds.  Carlson Hall was named after August Carlson who bequested $121,519.22 to the university upon his death.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 and also served as classrooms for numerous departments, mostly recently Math and Humanities.  It may not only be a target due to its prominent location on campus and proximity to the current Quinney Law School building, but also due to its understated architectual style which was prominently used at the time of construction.  Buildings of this type were not ostentious and the public would not supported that type of building in an era of going without meeting basic needs which led to being fiscally astute.

While historic preservation has played a prominent role on President's Circle where the majority of the oldest structures exist, it's unfortunate that a university that pledges to be concerned about sustainability and green building principles cannot see how conserving an entire building supports that policy and implement a campus-wide policy for historic preservation and rehabilitation.  It's left up to each individual school or college and its Dean with nearly carte blanche acceptance of whatever they dictate as long as the financial bottom line is met.  In my experience, only federal judges may have more power to dictate building projects.

Since 2004, UHF has been raising awareness about the historic and architectural significance of the former Salt Lake City Main Library.  Completed in 1964, the style structure originally designed by Edwards & Daniels Architects (now EDA Associates) was determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places because of the work of UHF and the Utah Division of State History Preservation Office.  Due to a grant from FEMA for seismic upgrade, the project went through the Section 106 process during design arriving at a system of steel framing within the public space of the to be museum space to be.  The Leonardo embarked on the $15 million rehabilitation in January 2010 with a goal to open in Summer 2011.  The current project architect is AJC Architects, Salt Lake City.  As another positive step, the project has been designed with excellent environmental considerations, including historic preservation through materials conservation, and will apply for LEED Gold designation.  In the end, it appears that using the braced frame seismic system, recommended as the preferred option over concrete shear walls by preservationists due to its transparency, will also save the city and The Leonardo money as it will be nearly $300,000 cheaper than the original estimate for concrete shear walls.  A fabulous example of meeting both the goals of preservation and engineering safety is an elegant manner.

We recently toured the building to see the progress and wanted to give you a look at the work in progress.

Top left: View of seismic braced framing.

With its proximity to downtown, the University of Utah within walking distance, or the mountains and other cities via TRAX and multiple bus mass transit systems, and some of the greatest and most diverse stock of aesthetically appealing and range of prices, the University Neighborhood in Salt Lake City made This Old House’s 2011 list of Best Old House Neighborhoods: Northwest and West.  Spurred by local residents, the area was designated as a National Register Historic District in 1991 and later as a local historic district.

Built predominantly between 1900 and 1920, the architectural character of the area is mixed between high style Period Revival styles, Craftsman, Bungalow, and Queen Anne, and more modest versions of the same styles mixed with Victorian cottages and modern era structures.  With a mix between owner-occupied housing and rentals, a precarious balance is always needed in any town-gown community to ensure that the needs of both user groups are being met, but historic preservation is also being achieved to the satisfaction of all parties for the community good.  So, no matter who owns the property or what its use, the preservation guidelines that are in place help ensure that everyone is working from a level playing field, making the University Neighborhood a great place to be.

As a long-time symbol of the Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI), the distributive system for products created by and for the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, only the facade of the building's original headquarters at the north end of Main Street in Salt Lake City remains.  When the original building was demolished in the late 1970s for construction of the ZCMI Mall, the facade was saved and reattached to the new mall.  The saving of the facade was widely accepted as a suitable means of historic preservation during that era.  But what success the facade may have gained from being saved at first may have been lost through the years as its spaces grew dark and tired.  Over the decades, as the preservation and architecture fields grew more sophisticated, only saving the facade became the last choice and even a non-starter.

As the ZCMI facade is a National Register and Salt Lake City landmark site, its owner, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has taken great strides to re-connect the facade to its new structure and thus the people it interacts with on the street and inside the building.  During the approval process for its re-installation, there was discussion about lighting, windows within the facade, and the ability to see activity above the the ground floor, all of which weren't available in the previous version.  This would certainly bring life to the new installation.

So, are you happy to see it back or not?  Admittedly, you're not seeing the finally project so don't judge it by what you see now.

I've received several calls about this project that is in progress and just wanted to clarify that the historic 1919 Julia Morgan-designed building on the YWCA campus is not going to be demolished.  Long set plans as part of the centennial campaign have called for demolition of the 1954 west wing and rehabilitation of the historic building, so do not fear for this rare architectural gem in the city as part of the new Center for Families.  UHF held a Board of Trustees meeting here a couple of years ago and was treated to a great tour of the facilities including the amazing historic pool. 

As one of the few buildings designed by Morgan outside Utah, it is a rare extant example of her work that will be preserved.  In addition, it is a rare example of work by a female architect in Utah as the first building designed by a licensed female architect in Utah wasn't constructed until 1968.

As the project progresses, we hope to be back with some in progress photos.