Utah Heritage Foundation

Salt Lake City's McGillis School at 1300 East and 700 South is now a model for sustainable teaching.  As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune over the weekend. completion of the recent addition has resulted in certification for the building as LEED Gold, the first such certification for a school building in the state.  McGillis School was once Salt Lake City School District's Douglas School.  Built in 1915, the historic school was purchased by the McGillis School from the district in 2001 and subsequently renovated.  Utah Heritage Foundation advocated for sale of the building rather than demolition and sale as a vacant parcel of land.  It was the first time in decades that the district sold a building.  For their efforts to save and rehabilitate Douglas School, Utah Heritage Foundation awarded the McGillis School a Heritage Award in 2004.

The most recent addition of 57,000 square feet was completed this year in a style nearly matching the original understated Collegiate Gothic style of the original building.  LEED certification is a result of incorporating sustainable features into the site that reduce its carbon footprint including drought-tolerant landscaping, conservation of existing structures and fabric, incorporation of transportation options such as biking, walking, and mass transit, and recycling materials.

As quoted in the article, sixth grader Luke Chamberlain said that it's important to try to improve the world.  "If you don't repair the world then it will just be worse for the people who live after us, and it won't be a very fun place to live."  Fortunately, this exemplary line of thinking has been part of this project now for over ten years.  Chairman of the US Green Building Council's Utah Chapter, Dave Engel, added, "The daily choices we all make have a lasting impact on the environment as well as the community."

Lynn Taylor is a personal friend of UHF.  She's a passioniate preservationist and we've seen her great work firsthand in Nashville.  She's seeking preservation professional to help give these webinars to a national audience.  Here's what she recently wrote to us:

 

We are looking for WEBINAR PRESENTERS on historic preservation and restoration. Do you have a great PowerPoint presentation? Do you know of someone you does? Do you already have a webinar scheduled and would like to list it on the Taylor Made Plans events page?

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

UPDATE June 18, 2011

There are still 500-600 seats remaining that are in good condition.  These are an American Seating chair with a curved birch back, and a thick leather padded seat.  The art deco end standards were reused in the Ogden High rehab, so whoever wants the chairs would have to buy new aisle standards from American or reuse what they had in their facility.

Please contact Dan Pratt, Vice President, Building Division of Hughes General Contractors at (801) 292-1411 or dan@hughesgc.com.

The seismic retrofit workshop offered by UHF a few weeks ago will be reprised on Saturday, May 21 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. at Murray City Hall, 5025 S. State St., in the Council Chambers.  Structural engineer Barry Welliver (Welliver Engineering) and architect Charles Shepherd (MJSA Architects) will be the presenters.  Admission is FREE.

The Murray City History Advisory Board is also sponsoring a Vine Street Historic Home Neighborhood Walk preceding the workshop from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon.  The FREE tour will begin at the Superette Market at 335 East Vine St., Murray.

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.

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.

Thanks to all those who attended last Saturday’s Seismic Retrofit for Historic Buildings workshop.

The Salt Lake Tribune printed a follow-up article that you can read here.

If you could not attend, or just wanted electronic versions of the materials that were available, we have listed them below for your convenience.

Ogden High School auditorium seats are seeking a good home.  They would prefer another historic auditorium, but a non-profit, historic theater would be a great second choice as well.

As you may know, Ogden High School is currently undergoing an $65 million restoration, so any organization that can purchase these historic seats will have first preference and should make their desire known immediately.  Should a fledgling non-profit or school that is otherwise in the midst of restoring a historic theater or auditorium space and could use donated seats, the Ogden School District and Foundation will look at your proposals on a case-by-case basis.

Contact Gary Reed at the Ogden School District, 801.737.7311 / reedg@ogdensd.org, with your needs and your proposal.

Original Auditorium Seat Description