Utah Heritage Foundation

Free Photography Workshop

Utah Heritage Foundation will hold a workshop teaching the basics of architectural photography in preparation for our For the Love of MOD Mid-Century Modern Photography Contest.  Taking place in Memorial House in Memory Grove Park (485 North Canyon Road, Salt Lake City) on Saturday, February 6 at 10:00 AM, this workshop will be taught by retired University of Utah College of Architecture + Planning Professor Peter Goss.  The workshop is free and is open to the public.

Forsey's Furniture Galleries

 

Looking back at the historical center of many Utah towns, you have a handful of choices as to what could be considered the heart of the community.  Certainly a church.  Maybe a park.  Favorite restaurant.  A school or city hall.

How about a dance hall?  There were literally dozens of them spread across the state of all shapes and sizes.  Starting in 1848 with the Social Hall in 1852 as a modest gathering place for social dances in Salt Lake City, the idea spread to other towns remaining popular through the 1940s.  Arguably the most popular and most majestic of dance halls was the Richard Kletting-designed Saltair, which burned twice and now exists in its third iteration.

However, as we witnessed last summer on our members tour to Delta, one amazing dance hall lies in wait for a revival.  Van’s Hall on Main Street (seen above) isn’t open to the public anymore but is waiting to lure weekenders back for a swing around wood-grained floors.  There aren’t many like Van’s Hall left and it would take an acute effort to rehab the building.  Simply enough, there’s only two steps to take before you can dance the two-step there again:  1) raise enough money for rehabilitation, and 2) do the rehabilitation.  And they need help and interest to get it off the ground.

Cisco Disco

January 23rd 2010

 See PDF of the invitation

6am to 10am Catch Cisco at Cisco Beach! (East Side)

12 Noon Bear Lake Monster Polar Plunge at the Marina

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has announced that Tim Bailey, a fifth grade teacher at Escalante Elementary School in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the recipient of the 2009 Preserve America National History Teacher of the Year award. The award is co-sponsored by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Preserve America and HISTORY™. Bailey will receive the $10,000 award on December 16, 2009 at the School Without Walls in Washington, D.C. United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will be on hand to congratulate Bailey and speak about the importance of American history education.

Tim Bailey began his teaching career in 1989. He has written three American history workbooks focused on primary sources for elementary classrooms in the Easy Simulations series, published in 2008 by Scholastic. He has also served as a teacher mentor for the past eight years. A Fulbright Scholar in 2003, Bailey has earned several awards from the state of Utah, the Salt Lake City school district, and others.

Read the full press release

For several decades now, St. George City has been the steward and planner for a historic preservation revival in Utah’s Dixie.  The centerpiece of which is the town square where the historic Woodward School, Tabernacle, and original Dixie College building (seen at left) all stand.  All in deep red sandstone, these buildings reflect the burnished color of the surrounding hills, but tell a richer story, one of pioneer ancestry, faith, dedication, and hard work.

But also a story of sound principles of planning and architecture which are still followed today in the pioneer center of St. George.  The historic building of the town square are now joined by fountains, open space, and the city’s new public library which is built to design specifications that allow it to fit into the town square, yet not replicate the historic buildings.  Main Street (seen at bottom right), the Green Gate Village B&B, Ancestor Square, and the Opera House complex are but a few of the nearby historic buildings that have all been rehabilitated.

Historic preservation has been the centerpiece of St. George’s planning efforts and house some of most interesting galleries, businesses, events, and accommodations.  Utah Heritage Foundation is pleased to support St. George city and the numerous organizations and owners who invest in rehabilitation.  Susan Crook, Central and Southern Utah Field Rep for Utah Heritage Foundation, is available to assist with historic preservation projects throughout the region by contacting her at 435.773.5336 or susan@utahheritagefoundation.org.

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On Wednesday, the UHF staff took the tour that is offered by the Public Safety Department of the facility they are citing as decrepit.  As we see many older buildings, historic and not, savable and not, as part of our work, we were curious to see what the building really looked like on the inside.  And to my knowledge, none of the staff had been through the secure doors of the police station for any other reason so we needed the official escort!

This was truly a good chance to see, plain and simple, that this is a building that needs upgrading.  Systems are worn out.  Windows and their seals are tired.  Upgrades are needed.  And it can happen but not while such an intensive use is inside the building working round the clock 365 days a year.  It's a tough situation for the city and for preservation.  But we've seen tough cases before get solved and there is great architectural expertise in Salt Lake City to help move this forward.

Another bit of good news is the the city has begun to move forward with possible designation to the National Register of Historic Places.  We think the building has eligibilty to be listed, and with designation could open up the possibility of using the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit in the future redevelopment of the building for a new use.  It also shows a great deal of faith in the future preservation of this building and in the city's modernism movement on behalf of the city and Mayor Becker to invest in this designation.

Read SLC Police Hope Seeing is Believing by Katie Drake in the Salt Lake Tribune. (Photo courtesy of Salt Lake Tribune)

Barn Party

September 25, 2009

6:30-10:00 p.m.

Union Pacific Depot

You may not know how much historic preservation supports local economies.  Even your shopping at a store in a historic building supports historic preservation.  Here are a few ways you can help support historic preservation and local economy at the same time:

-          Shop at a locally owned store, especially one in a business district like on a Main Street;

-          Buy locally made products or ask if before buying if products were made within a regional radius;