Utah Heritage Foundation

As part of The Park City Foundation's Live PC Give PC campaign, the park City Museum is offerering a 2 for 1 special!

Donate $10 to the Park City Museum on 11.11.11 at Live PC Give PC and receive TWO ADMISSIONS to the Park City Museum ($20 value).

Tell your friends and neighbors!  This is a great chance for you to bring a friend to one of the most fabulous history museums in the whole state, get a great deal to do it, and support these two worthy causes at one time.

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).

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."

The Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission is seeking nominations for its 2011 Preservation Awards Program. The program, to be held in August, will honor outstanding contributions towards the preservation of Salt Lake City's historic resources. To be considered, nominations must be for properties located in Salt Lake City and built no later than 1961. Rehabilitation work should be to the exterior of the property, completed between January 2009 and now. Nominations are due by Friday, July 8, 2011.

This is the first time that quality preservation work will be recognized by the city in about 10 years, which was the last time awards were presented.  This is a tremendous sign that the historic preservation program in Salt Lake City Corp. is moving along well and supported by both the Becker administration and City Council.  An annual awards program is also one of the key components included in the Citywide Preservation Plan, still awaiting adoption by the City Council.

The nomination form can be found at www.slcgov.com/ced/planning.

We hope you will join us at the opening celebration for the Dr. Stanley Taylor House, a project recently completed by the Housing Authority of Salt Lake City.

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.