Utah Heritage Foundation

Utah Heritage Foundation’s
Mid-Year Campaign is Underway

Your support enables Utah Heritage Foundation to provide the expertise needed by communities, grassroots organizations, and individual property owners when they embark on a historic preser-vation project. Contributions from our members and donors also make possible the public tours of significant Utah landmarks, such as the Salt Lake City & County Building and the Utah Governor’s Mansion, as well as rehab workshops and school programs. As we reach the half-way point of 2011, we ask for your donation to keep our technical and educational programs strong over the coming months.

Utah Heritage Foundation is grateful to KeyBank for supporting us during this appeal with a challenge to our donors and members: When your collective donations to our mid-year campaign total $3,000, KeyBank will contribute $1,000.
Help us meet our goal and give generously to preserve the unique character and craftsmanship of Utah’s historic buildings and neighborhoods.
You can donate now through our secure website or by calling 801-533-0858 ext. 107.

Thank you for supporting UHF!

UPDATE:  Thanks to all who read this and to Lorraine Januzelli who made the final contribution to help us reach our goal for this year.  Though we have made our match we are still accepting donations for the mid-year appeal.  Just follow the link below.

Attention bloggers!  If you've ever even considered donating a small amount to UHF to keep the organization's work going, NOW is your chance to make your dollars go even further.  Our mid-year appeal is only $65 short of $2,000, the point at which we receive a dollar-for-dollar match from the UHF Board of Trustees in a challenge that they have put forward to the public to come forward this summer.  There simply is no better way to assist UHF in preservation work statewide.

And you, our regular blog readers could be the last donation that we need to put us over the top!  Please consider a donation today.

Just a reminder that the REI Anniversary Sale starts today, Friday May 21st.  This sale has the potential to benefit Utah Heritage Foundation as an REI affiliate.
This is their biggest sale of the year, so please log in through the UHF website and grab the text links to increase your conversions!  REI members can also save 20% on one full price item during this event.
Coupon code: ANNVMEM

Sale dates: May 21 - 31, 2010.

Here are some promotion details:
25% Off All Camelbak Packs, Water Bottles & Accessories!
30% Off all REI-Brand Titanium Cookware!
Jetboil Classic Cooking System $64.99!
20% Off all Mountain House Freeze-Dried Food!
Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx GPS $199.99!
20% Off all Yakima & Thule Racks, Boxes & Accessories!
15% Off all BOB Strollers!
20% Off all Chariot Bike Trailers & Accessories!

Looking back at the historical center of many Utah towns, you have a handful of choices as to what could be considered the heart of the community.  Certainly a church.  Maybe a park.  Favorite restaurant.  A school or city hall.

How about a dance hall?  There were literally dozens of them spread across the state of all shapes and sizes.  Starting in 1848 with the Social Hall in 1852 as a modest gathering place for social dances in Salt Lake City, the idea spread to other towns remaining popular through the 1940s.  Arguably the most popular and most majestic of dance halls was the Richard Kletting-designed Saltair, which burned twice and now exists in its third iteration.

However, as we witnessed last summer on our members tour to Delta, one amazing dance hall lies in wait for a revival.  Van’s Hall on Main Street (seen above) isn’t open to the public anymore but is waiting to lure weekenders back for a swing around wood-grained floors.  There aren’t many like Van’s Hall left and it would take an acute effort to rehab the building.  Simply enough, there’s only two steps to take before you can dance the two-step there again:  1) raise enough money for rehabilitation, and 2) do the rehabilitation.  And they need help and interest to get it off the ground.

In these times of heightened concern for the economy and the environment, we are discovering that our work in historic preservation is ever more essential to the everyday lives of Utahns.    Utah Heritage Foundation saves and helps to restore the historic charm of our towns and cities.  Rehabilitation and re-use of existing buildings takes advantage of the resources and energy already embedded in these structures and reduces sprawl into farmland and open spaces.

Through the insightful and generous support of our Board of Trustees, our volunteers, and preservationists across Utah, new opportunities arise even in uncertain times.  Utah Heritage Foundation continues to operate efficiently and effectively to preserve historic buildings through advocacy, technical assistance and low-interest loans, and to deliver classroom curricula free-of-charge to teachers and schoolchildren.  The possibilities to make a difference on the landscape and in the awareness of Utahns continue to expand in exciting directions.