A home for Bountiful's history

BOUNTIFUL — Tom Tolman is devoted to finding a home for this city's history.

When he ran for Bountiful City Council in 2001, he had one objective.

"My goal four years ago was to establish a museum and a place where we could establish the history of Bountiful," Tolman said.

As a lifelong resident of the city with a rich family connection to the area, Tolman said he has a responsibility to preserve the past. "My roots go back to day one here in Bountiful on both sides, so I feel a real need to record the history of our anscestors and what they have done to establish our city," he said.

In his first term as a City Council member, Tolman, who also serves on the Bountiful Historical Commission, and others have made great strides toward establishing an official city museum.

Nearly two years ago the Bountiful Historical Commission set up a small-scale museum in the basement of the Smith Hyatt Building at 845 S. Main, Suite B5. The building's owner, Tom Smith, offered some basement office space to the commission at half the rental price.

But the three-room miniature museum is filled to capacity.

"We're totally out of space now because we've had an overwhelming response of artifacts and histories," Tolman said.

The Historical Commission also successfully moved the Willey Cabin in the spring of 2005 from the land near the Bountiful Recreation Center to the land just south of the Bountiful/Davis Art Center at 745 S. Main.

"It makes it a great spot for the cabin — the corner of (the city's) campus," Tolman said. "This is the oldest building in Bountiful."

The cabin, which is near the Smith Hyatt building, also houses a few historical artifacts.

But Tolman's dream is to house the artifacts, records and personal histories of Bountiful in a 4,000-6,000 square-foot facility. He, along with the Historical Commission, has proposed building an addition onto the south side of the Bountiful/Davis Art Center that would serve as a museum.

"It just makes sense," Tolman said. "It completes the (city) campus as far as I am concerned."

Bountiful Mayor Joe Johnson is also in favor of joining the museum with the city's arts program. He said he can't speak about how large the museum would be and where it would be, but he thinks it is essential.