Huntsman puts Fillmore back in the spotlight

At the turn of the century, Fillmore's Territorial Statehouse was just another run-down old building among newer, better structures in the central Utah town.

Deseret Morning News graphic Fillmore Territorial Statehouse Requires Adobe Acrobat.

"As new city buildings were constructed, the old statehouse fell into disuse and decay," the Deseret News reported in 1980, looking back several decades. "Vandals kicked out the basement windows, and kids crawled through to play in the basement."

Eventually, the old statehouse became so blighted there was a movement to tear down the eyesore.

The Utah State Department of Parks and Recreation noted: "The building had fallen into disrepair and was threatened with demolition."

But the East Millard Daughters of the Utah Pioneers pushed for legislation to fund restoration, and the building was saved, becoming Utah's first state park in 1930.

Today the old statehouse will take another step in its phoenix-like rise from the ashes as Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. delivers his first State of the State address there.

It is believed to be the first such speech given at the statehouse since territorial Gov. Brigham Young delivered a speech to the territorial Legislature in 1855, the only full year a Legislature met at the statehouse.

Originally, the building was supposed to be Utah's Capitol, designed as a Roman cross with a Moorish dome in the middle.

But the federal funding that came from Mormon-friendly President Millard Fillmore dried up after Fillmore was defeated in the early 1850s, and only the southern wing of the structure was ever built.