Utah Heritage Foundation

Renowned for its painted graphics and unique style, the Utah Ice & Storage Warehouse at the corner of 300 South and 600 West was demolished on Monday, December 20, 2010 after a demolition permit was issued to the property owner, Nicholas Food Company.

Built c. 1880, the warehouse was once probably ten times its last size as home to one of the city’s largest facilities for the cold storage of meat, produce, and ice as it came in by rail and distribute throughout the valley by horse-drawn carriage and later by truck.

Unfortunately, the historic warehouse had a future role to play in the emerging Hub District.  As planned by the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City, the district was to have the few historically unique buildings that remain in the two block area between UTA Central Station and the Rio Grande Depot, to which Utah Ice & Storage could have played a key role in the revitalization of an area otherwise desolate of character.  The RDA owns two buildings and has made plans to incorporate them into new development, but Utah Ice & Storage was the one that was privately owned and is now gone.  It’s looking more and more like that corner will be left up to the reinvention of urban design rather than recalling any piece of railroad history for the Hub District.

Today is demolition day at the West Jordan Sugar Factory.

Demolition will clear the way for an office building for the Third District Court, which is adjacent to the sugar factory.

Built in 1914, the complex of three buildings and two silos was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.  Since 2003, Utah Heritage Foundation has been supporting the work of the local Sugar Factory Committee toward rehabilitation of the complex.  Recently though, a political change of perspective has been led by Mayor Melissa Johnson, decrying the buildings as “an eyesore” and stating that in her opinion “the buildings aren’t architecturally significant.”

Earli

We just received word that Murray City is demolishing two houses in their downtown historic district on Poplar Street within a few days as nuisance abatement.  They are willing to let historic materials be salvaged before demolition.  One house is brick dating c. 1903.  If you are interested in making an appointment to see the houses, contact Tim Tingey at 801.270.2420.

With the fourth teardown about to happen this year, the Yalecrest Community Council continues to seek solutions to losing community-defining residential structures.  In one of the most highly desirable, and thus highly threatened, neighborhoods in Salt Lake City, the area commonly known as Harvard-Yale has a range of house sizes on tree-lined streets between the University of Utah and the Wasatch mountain range.  Though the neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, there is no protection or delays for demolition by local ordinances.

In this latest case, a demolition application has been filed for a Tudor Revival style house at 1725 Michigan.  No further information is available at this time.

Proponents from the Yalecrest neighborhood have been vocal in meetings with the city council that a local historic district is warranted to better control demolition as well as the scale and design of new houses and additions through the Historic Landmarks Commission, which has been in place since the mid-1970s.  Utah Heritage Foundation has been supportive of the Yalecrest Community Council in seeking local historic district status.

Do you think it's about time Yalecrest should be a local historic district and provide better process for demolition?   Let us know what you think.

On March 10, 2009, the Salt Lake City Council considers a proposal from CHRISTUS St. Joseph's Villa for a master plan change.  This would start clearing the way for the Villa to expand their campus into the East Waterloo Subdivision of the historic Liberty Wells Neighborhood.  The expansion would demolish seven single-family houses on Hollywood and 500 East (one seen at bottom) potentially replacing them with a 2-3 story building, and demolish 2/3 of the original St. Joseph's Villa building at Westminster and 500 East, which was built in 1959 (left).

Utah Heritage Foundation has taken a position against granting this master plan change and has strongly encouraged the Salt Lake City Council deny the application/request for the master plan change.  Our reasons to support denial include further exploration of alternatives to demolition of historic houses including the rehabilitation of the original 1959 structure for continued use, supporting the city's well-written, community-supported master plans for these neighborhoods, and growing support for historic preservation from the Liberty-Wells Neighborhood.

Read Utah Heritage Foundation's position on CHRISTUS St. Joseph's Villa's master plan change request.

On Wednesday, December 10, the neighborhood of Liberty Wells gathered at the Salt Lake Community College South City campus for a regular meeting.  On the agenda however, was one of the most important issues in recent memory which garnered one of the highest turnouts ever for this community council.  The agenda issue before them was whether or not to support the expansion of St. Joseph's Villa.  This was detailed in the UHF blog last week.

The community voted 116-51 to not support the master plan amendment and zoning change to the City Council next year, which would pave the way for the expansion.

After this community council meeting, the Salt Lake City Council will be considering the master plan and zoning change request.  Jill Remington-Love represents this portion of the Liberty-Wells neighborhood on the City Council and welcomes your comments, but all city council members should be informed with your opinions.

On Wednesday, December 10, the Salt Lake City Liberty-Wells Community Council will hold a vote regarding the proposal to expand St. Joseph Villa (seen at right), which requires a change to the Central Community Master Plan and a zoning change.  The Planning Commission has already given its approval to the plan, which includes the demolition of seven historic houses (below left), five of which have been rated as potentially contributing status to a future National Register Historic District.

However, in an important step to discuss the project, the neighborhood is reconsidering its original vote from Spring 2008 as that vote was taken when the item was not listed on a regular meeting agenda.  The December 10^th meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Salt Lake Community College South City Campus (former SLC South HS) at 1575 South State Street in Room W111G.