Out with new, in with old

SPRINGVILLE — As part of a plan to put a new face on Springville's downtown, merchants along the city's Main Street are trying to look old.

Springville has been accepted into Utah's Main Street program — a step toward revitalizing the city's downtown. And many stores, some of which were built some 100 years ago, are sidestepping modern looks in favor of a historic feel.

Maintaining historic-looking architecture is one of the aims of the Main Street program. The program also gives city officials and business owners access to experts in design, promotion and business development, said Bim Oliver, program coordinator.

Springville joins nine Utah cities in the program — American Fork, Helper, Logan, Panguitch, Payson, Richfield, Roosevelt and Tooele.

Jeff Mills, president of Springville's Downtown Alliance, hopes to get some 90 percent of the merchants from Center Street to 400 South and from 100 East to 100 West to jump into the program.

Under the program, the state contributes $10,000 and the city matches it.

With the funding, the city plans to hire a part-time manager to help oversee revitalization efforts. That person will coordinate with city officials and merchants.

The goal is to capture a niche in the market with a historic look, rather than compete with large stores, such as Wal-Mart, that have gone up on the city's edge.

An arts group has already caught the vision of the program.

The Incredible Journey Arts Foundation wants to make the 1892 H.T. Reynolds Building on Main and 200 South its home.

The building will house an art gallery, art school, fine dining restaurant and studio space for artists. Local artist Gary Lee Price and his wife, Lanea, bought the building and donated it to the foundation, which they co-founded in 2001.

One of Mills' stores on the 200 block of South Main was restored two years ago.

If he was to do that project today, he said, he would stick closer to an original look. The other store, a work in progress, will look like the original when completed and a tenant is found, he said.

In the 1950s, during an earlier revitalization era, many of the Main Street stores were modernized with awnings and aluminum siding. These days, those additions are coming off.