Utah Heritage Foundation

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.

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."

Utah Heritage Foundation has officially provided their support for the upcoming bond to save and rehabilitate Granite High School in South Salt Lake.  This would be a fabulous project that not only conserves an important historic structure, but could provide much needed flexible community space in the center of the valley.

Please join us to help inform voters in your neighborhood about the important Granite Bond election on November 8th. The City of South Salt Lake has proposed a $25 million bond to purchase former Granite High School and upgrade the campus into a community park, recreation center, arts center and public charter school. City residents are asked to vote to fund this project or not. This will be the only opportunity for the city to do so and the only way for your voice to be heard is to vote. We need your help informing voters!

Thursday September 15th 7:00 - 8:00 pm

Meet at the 500 East Entrance to the “S” (main classroom) building

South Salt Lake is pleased to announce its first annual arts festival at Granite High School.

Saturday, September 10, 9 am - 4 pm

This event combines the work of artists and crafts people, dancers and musicians, classic car artists and a reunion picnic for Granite High alumni. The Arts Council is well known for the visual arts programs it sponsors at the Pioneer Craft House and Columbus Center. Granite High School was legendary for its performing arts programs. South Salt Lake is known for cultural diversity, grassroots arts scene and its sense of fun! Put it all together for a rocking arts festival - Granite Rocks!

Utah Heritage Foundation commends The Spectrum for its editorial on July 18, 2011 urging that school buildings be more energy efficient.  But why stop there.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation has been pointing out for years that the greenest buildings are often those that are already built. 

In a planning meeting for the re-use of Denver’s Emerson School, consultant Jim Dinola, a principal with Green Building Services in Portland, Oregon noted that the energy efficiency of older schools can be improved by doing some of the simple things homeowners do to make old houses more efficient.  These include insulating the attic, tightening windows and doors to eliminate leaks, and making thermostats operable (so that rooms are not heated to 85 degrees while sitting empty overnight, for example). Other energy savings will require more substantial investment, such as the overhaul of the school’s heating and cooling systems.  These retrofits often compare favorably with the cost of new construction.

Older schools in established neighborhoods like East Elementary in St. George, Utah (photo courtesy Washington County Historical Society) can usually be reached safely by pedestrians, reducing traffic and pollution from vehicles.  A recent Preservation Nation blog gave a way to measure the walkability of schools and their neighborhoods using the Active School Neighborhood Checklist (ASNC).  The checklist was born out of the federal Safe Routes To School program. The goal of SRTS is to make it safer and easier for children to walk and bicycle to school. 

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.

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).

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.

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