Historic preservation hailed at Salt Lake church

What better place to celebrate excellence in building preservation than the recently restored 102-year-old First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake?

Nine awards for historic preservation were given by the Utah Heritage Foundation during a special 80-minute program Friday evening at First Presbyterian, which was one of the winners.

Four awards were given under the "stabilization, renovation or restoration" title — the Douglas/McGillis School of Salt Lake City; the Fountain Green Dance Hall and Theatre, Foundation Green; "The Pines," the William D. and Annie Livingston house in Holladay; and the First Presbyterian Church.

In the "adaptive use" category, there were three awards — Center Street Grocery and Em's Restaurant, Salt Lake City; the Midvale City Hall; and the Scowcroft Building in Ogden.

In the "stewardship" division, the Weber County Library Board of Ogden was honored and in the "organization" category, the Copperton Township General Plan was noted.

Award recipients were selected by an independent jury for their commitment to excellence in historic preservation.

The McGillis School was restored in just eight months of intensive work that included making it ADA accessible and preserving its original maple floors.

"The Pines" on Holladay Boulevard is a 1917 bungalow named for the century-old pine trees on the property. "It's been a dream to live in this house," its current owner and restorer, Merlin Taylor, said.

After 28 years of hibernation, Midvale city was able to use Olympic Games tax money to restore its old City Hall as home of its arts council. Built in 1940, "this is a building the Olympics built," Mayor JoAnn B. Seghini said.

The Weber County Board of Trustees preserved its main library building in Ogden in a steady, slow process of restoration. Constructed in 1968, it now looks as if it had just opened.

With six years of city-wide help, Fountain Green restored its dance hall and theater, originally built in 1918. Closed since 1950, a collapsed roof and rotted floors were among the challenges, but the project also brought the community together.

Ogden's Scowcroft building opened in 1906 as an industrial center. It closed in 1958. Some 124,000-square-feet of building was revamped to house an office of the IRS for 1,1000 employees in downtown Ogden.

The Center Street Grocery building in the Capitol Hill area of Salt Lake closed in 1980 but is now a small business in the heart of the neighborhood again.

Copperton's general plan was lauded as a gift to future generations, because it preserves 160 acres of the original historic district at the mouth of Bingham Canyon.

Utah Heritage Foundation reaches communities throughout the state through a wide range of programs and activities. Its mission is preserving, protecting and promoting Utah's buildings environment.

For information on the Foundation, go online to: www.utahheritagefoundation.com.

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E-mail: lynn@desnews.com