Utah Heritage Foundation

A few weeks ago I wrote about losing two prominent architects in the same week – Steven T. Baird and Dean Gustavson.  We happened to be in the midst of celebrating their work with the Baird’s cinematic production of ZCMI: A Legacy in Cast Iron and discussing the potential to participate in Salt Lake Modern with Gustavson.

It’s time to now celebrate the work of two more local architects that have passed away this month.  They both happen to be from Ogden.

Keith Wilcox was an Ogden architect who designed buildings such as the Mount Ogden Middle School on Harrison Blvd., the original McKay (now McKay-Dee) hospital, and the Weber State University Fine Arts Center which was (now demolished) one of the state’s premier examples of the New Formalist style.  His architecture will best be remembered for his work on the Washington, D.C. LDS Temple (1968) which undoubtedly is inspired from above.  However, those that knew him best have reflected on how kind and generous Keith was in his work with the LDS Church in various positions all over the world.

Announced in the December 15th Sugar House Journal, the former Rosslyn Heights Elementary School is reopening as the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts.  Located at 2291 South 2000 East in Salt Lake City, the 1950 school building was vacated about six years ago after consolidation.  Since that time, the school has remained vacant.

UHF toured the building with school district officials in 1999 after the $100 million+ bond was passed and the future of many older school buildings were immediately in doubt.  Our assessment at that time was that Rosslyn Heights was well-maintained and appropriate additions in c. 1955, c. 1980, and c. 1990 were all appropriately done and also in good condition.  At that time, the district had not made a commitment to replace the school building.

The SPA had formerly been housed at Highland High School.  Over the summer, Rosslyn Heights went through a renovation that created optimal space not only for high school students but also the SPA's requirements for dance floors, stages, and production and rehearsal space.  Interestingly, the school also contains a community vet clinic providing vaccinations and licensing at half the cost of a regular veterinarian.

There's been lots of news in the world of Utah historic preservation lately, so I thought a summary would be in order.

Yes to Granite

On Monday, October 17, The Salt Lake Tribune endorsed the bond election in South Salt Lake to buy and rehabilitate Granite High School.  So has Utah Heritage Foundation.  The UHF Preservation Round-up blog talked about the benefits of this bond on three separate occasions (here and here and here).

Top Secret:  For Your Eyes Only

A Tour of Historic Wendover Airbase

Date:               August 27, 2011

Time:               10:00 am – 2pm (approximately 4 hours)

Location:        Wendover Airport, 345 Airport Apron, Wendover, Utah

This morning it was reported in the Salt Lake Tribune that The Leonardo will go before the City Council tonight with a request for a $600,000 loan to pay salaries.  Really?  They’ve spent all their finances on the capital project and now don’t have enough to keep their staff.  I’m not sure this bodes well for the future.

The preservation ethic that’s been established at The Leo also doesn’t bode well for the future.  The city received a grant from FEMA to do seismic stabilization to the former library building.  Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, providing these federal funds required that impacts to the building from a new seismic system be reviewed by the Utah State Historic Preservation Office and interested consulting parties, of which Utah Heritage Foundation was one.  Utah Heritage Foundation helped make the case that the former Main Library is a significant structure that is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places even though it had not reached the 50 year age mark.  We spent more than two years in intensive discussions with representatives of The Leonardo, FEMA, state emergency management, and Salt Lake City Public Services and Engineering.  On several walk-throughs of the building, we collectively identified the character defining features of the building to be preserved including the large plate glass windows, cast concrete panels, sculptural mural on the south side, leaflights, escalators, the auditorium, and several areas of extensive wood and marble paneling.

After many meetings, an agreement was reached about the best type of seismic system to be installed in this historic structure and how to lessen its impacts to the character defining features of the building.  These features were then protected during the renovation in order to satisfy the FEMA grant.  At the time of a walk through to see a “nearly completed” project (April 2011), we saw that all of the historic features were intact and in good condition.  The Leonardo indicated that they were within 1-2 months of opening and we walked away feeling good that the public would have a chance to experience the former library in a new way.  It’s exactly how the Section 106 process should work successfully.

Unfortunate

Watch here for an announcement of our next event, coming Summer 2011.

Please remove the previously announced date of June 18 from your schedules.

In the meantime, we encourage you to like SL Modern on Facebook or send us an email to join the SL Modern email list for future announcements.

The Recent Past Preservation Network (RPPN) is proud to announce its new scholarship for the National Trust for Historic Preservation Annual Conference. This year, in Buffalo, New York.  The Conference Scholarship is open to all active college students who are RPPN members.  Student membership is only $5 and you can join here to be eligible.  The scholarship is designed to give students with an active interest in recent past preservation, and an opportunity to broaden their education by attending the National Trust for Historic Preservation Annual Conference where they will be able to connect with their peers and learn from their predecessors through a variety of educational sessions.

In addition to receiving paid conference registration, the recipient will serve as a liaison for RPPN and will have the opportunity to write a featured article about the Conference for the RPPN Bulletin, our high-quality quarterly magazine, which is read by preservationists throughout the country.

Visit our website for eligibility criteria and to apply.

Robert Gardner designed an innovative new elementary school for Hurricane, Utah in 1954 (left).  Washington County School District closed the building in 2009 and moved Hurricane Elementary into a new facility.

Hmm, what to do with an old school building in the heart of town next to a museum and an art center all surrounded by park-like grounds with mature trees.  The City of Hurricane bought the building intending to demolish it for a new community center, but some people had a better idea, and the city agreed.

Interns from the Rhode Island School of Design working for architect Peter Stempel’s non-profit FormTomorrow made as-built drawings of the school during the summer of 2010.  They also prepared a site master plan showing how the Hurricane Elementary School building could be reused as part of the community center complex (orange figure center right in the illustration below, image courtesy FormTomorrow).

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.

We recently had the good fortune to get a guided tour of the recently rehabilitated Calvin D. Wilson South American Pavilion in Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City.  This uniquely multi-sided structure to display the equally interesting bird exhibits was designed in 1970 by John N. Clawson.  Severe deterioration and deferred maintenance that reduced overall usability, closed it to public access, and threatened the zoological status of the aviary led them to address the issues.  The building as well as the entire aviary are listed on the Salt Lake City Cultural Register and thus garnered review from the city through the Historic Landmarks Commission.  It has an impressive air handling system to keep the building at optimal temperatures and humidity for the birds as well as keeping the building odor-free for patrons.  We hope you'll agree that the results are breathtaking and extremely enjoyable, and encourage you to visit soon.  The Wilson Pavilion, a work of Utah modernism, is a fabulous example of preservation of the recent past and combination of preservation and sustainability principles as the building has been certified LEED Gold.