Building on the past

When the people who work for the Utah Heritage Foundation see a building that has been lovingly restored, they invite the owner to apply for an award. "Tell us the story of your project," they ask.

Kirk Huffaker, assistant director of UHF, says some of the people they approach are excited and others are shy. Some say, "Oh no, I didn't do anything special. I just worked on my house because I love it."

"But we can put it in perspective," Huffaker says. The Heritage folks know what is happening around the state. "We know about a lot of projects and we know when someone has done a good job. We can single out a couple of buildings and hold them up as models."

For 2005, the UHF held up as models and gave awards to three individuals, one community group, two homes and four commercial buildings.

Ask Huffaker to take this "perspective" idea one step further. Ask him to compare Utah's preservation efforts with those of other states. Huffaker will say he doesn't know a lot about other states. But he does have one example that makes Utah look pretty good.

Neighbors in the Yalecrest area of Salt Lake City recently were instrumental in getting a city ordinance passed to limit the size of new or remodeled homes. Huffaker says this shows how smart Utahns are. In other cities, like Denver or Dallas, dozens of too-large homes get built in historic neighborhoods, while residents sit around and agonize. Huffaker is happy to report it took only two or three oversize homes in Salt Lake before people started talking to their City Council members and drafting new rules.

If you live in Utah and are considering restoring an old building, the Heritage Foundation can help. In addition to education and awards programs, the UHF offers technical assistance and loans.

Huffaker says they have a lot of latitude in granting those loans. So don't worry that you might end up tiptoeing around in a museum, Huffaker says. You can preserve and still be comfortable in the space.

"You need latitude in order to adapt an older building to function for today," he notes. "That latitude allows you to keep some of the older elements, so that you have a really unique building, but still have some modern elements — to have high energy efficiency and function as a modern structure. That is really the essence of historic preservation today."

Peter Goss, who teaches architecture at the University of Utah, was one of those who nominated Gary Parnell for the 2005 individual award from the Utah Heritage Foundation.