Run Into Your Past

from Utah Preservation Restoration, Volume 1, 1979

Restoration versus New Construction

by Philip F. Notarianni

Running through the past rather than from it is one inherent quality of historic preservation. Remaining buildings, structures, and sites that exemplify various characteristics and elements which formed the past help in relating those earlier times to the present. But how do preservationists convey this aspect of the field to the public? In light of the current jogging craze, the Preservation Office of the Utah State Historical Society happened upon an innovative idea—the Historic Sites Fun Run.

Cast in the theme "Run Into Your Past," the fun run was designed to help celebrate Historic Preservation Month in Utah during May, 1978, by creating a greater awareness of Salt Lake City's historic resources. Approximately 125 eager runners, most adorned in a specially designed fun run t-shirt, launched themselves from the historic Isaac Chase Mill (1852) in Liberty Park at 8:00 a.m. on May 27. Each runner carried a small booklet that described the eight-mile course and provided capsule histories of the twenty-six historic sites that he would pass.

Young, old, male and female, the group was escorted through Liberty Park by a local television news crew, from KUTV. The run was a "fun run": no times were kept or awards given, and participants could race, jog, or walk the route. In the early morning sun the runners paraded along a grassy median strip en route to the palatial homes along Salt Lake City's South Temple Street, passing the famed Trolley Square. Built in 1906, the Mission-style car barns and repair shop buildings were converted in a 1972 adaptive reuse project into a shopping center. Once on South Temple, earlier called Brigham Street, joggers witnessed the splendor of the Thomas Kearns Mansion (1900-1902) and the David-Keith Mansion (1898-1900) both built by prosperous Utah mining entrepreneurs who attained their wealth from the silver mines of Park City.

The Enos A. Wall Mansion (1904), presently the LDS Business College, is located at 411 East South Temple, and its site enabled the run participants to witness the work of prominent Salt Lake City architect Richard K. A. Kletting. Runners also viewed the First Presbyterian Church (1902-1906) and the Cathedral of the Madeleine (1909). The First Presbyterian Church is of the Gothic Revival style and is constructed of rusticated Red Butte sandstone in a cruciform plan. Designed by CM. Neuhausen, the catholic cathedral is built of gray sandstone with brick, with the exterior designed in the Romanesque style and the interior in Gothic.

Continuing north along C Street, joggers passed the William Culmer House at 33 C Street (1881). An excellent example of Victorian period architecture, the Culmer residence also contains interior art work executed by the nationally-known Henry Culmer, brother of the home's original owner. Struggling "up"' C Street and then west along Fourth Avenue, fun runners were greeted by beaming rays of sun peering through bright green-leaved trees. Arriving at stairs, most stopped to skip down the path to the lower level, then on to Canyon Road and up City Creek Canyon.

To the west on Canyon Road is Ottinger Hall at 233 Canyon Road (1900), the Veteran Volunteer Firemen's Association Hall. A short distance north marks the entrance to Memory Grove, a beautiful park area located very close to downtown Salt Lake City and a popular recreational area. In 1924 the Gold Star Legion spearheaded the dedication of the park as a memorial to the soldiers killed in World War I. Within some 50 yards from the park entrance runners were treated to a water stop, some 3.1 miles from the start. Several members of the Utah Historical staff distributed water to the runners before their steep climb to the top of Capitol Hill.

Once on Capitol Hill, the direction was "down." Past the State Capitol, built during the 1912-1916 period by Richard K. A. Kletting, whose design had won a contest over forty other competitors, and Council Hill at the head of State Street, dedicated in 1866 and dismantled and moved to its present site in 1961-1964, weary runners were able to catch their breath. Racing down to Main Street, they turned south and began another steep descent to the Alfred W. McCune Mansion and Baskin-McCune Carriage House at 200 North Main Street. McCune, a leading railroad, timber and mining entrepreneur, commissioned S.C. Dallas to design this three-story Victorian mansion. A building permit for 1901 placed the cost at $80,000.

The route continued to North Temple, then east to State Street and on to South Temple where it turned west. On the corner is the Beehive House, 65 East South Temple, built in 1854 for Brigham Young and serving both as the official mansion for the Mormon leader and territorial governor and as a home for his family. Located on South Temple and Main Street, the Hotel Utah (1909-1911) stands as a symbol of Salt Lake's own desire to dispense with the image of the city as second-class. The Italian Renaissance-style building was designed by the firm of Parkinson and Bergstrum. Crossing Main Street, runners passed Temple Square, a National Historic Landmark. This area symbolizes the essence of the Mormon achievement in building a "Kingdom of Zion" in the West. At the heart of the square is the Temple itself, a Gothic Revival structure constructed of gray granite quarried from Little Cottonwood Canyon. Built during a period that spanned the years 1853 to 1892, it was designed by the first LDS church architect, Truman O. Angell.

Pounding the sidewalk along South Temple, the groups of runners continued west to the end of the street. To the north they saw the gaunt Devereaux House at 334 West South Temple (1857). Designed by architect William Paul, Utah's first mansion has been the subject of extensive political efforts to secure the structure in order that restoration to past grandeur may soon follow. At the Union Pacific Railroad Station, South Temple and 400 West, the groups turned to the south, heading into Salt Lake's railyards area. The Union Pacific Depot was completed in 1909, having been designed in an early French Renaissance style.

The Henderson Block at 375 West 200 South (1898) represents a high point in warehouse architecture. Designed by Walter E. Ware for Wilber S. Henderson, the one-time produce warehouse consists of a superstructure of Red Butte sandstone at the basement and street level and red brick at the second and third levels. Turning west on Second South, joggers ran to Rio Grande Avenue (455 West), then proceeded south to the Denver and Rio Grande Depot. In close proximity to the Union Pacific Station, this structure, completed in 1910, remains as a reminder of the financial struggle for control of the nation's transportation network by railroad and financial interests. The Denver and Rio Grande Depot will be restored in 1979 to become the home of the Utah State Historical Society. A quick turn east at Third South put the group en route to Pioneer Park, the old Pioneer Fort Site. This was the place of the first Mormon fort and permanent settlement in the Great Basin and in 1898 was designated a public park.

This section of Salt Lake City once housed colonies of various immigrant groups who arrived via the railroad.

Greeks, Italians, South Slavs, and Japanese were represented. Evidence of this is the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church located at 279 South 300 West. Dedicated in 1925, the church was built in a Byzantine design atacostof $150,000. Runners viewed this symbol of a once bustling ethnic community as they passed through Pioneer Park to Fourth South and Third West. At the corner they turned east and proceeded along Fourth South to Main Street where they viewed the Boston and Newhouse buildings, which form the gateway to the "Wall Street" of the West as envisioned by mining magnate Samuel Newhouse. This area, within visual distance of the runners, forms the Exchange Place Historic District (355 South Main to State Street). Comprised of the Salt Lake Mining and Stock Exchange, Commercial Club, Boston Building, Newhouse Building, Felt Building, Grand Hotel, Hotel Plandome, Newhouse Hotel, and the Federal Building/Post Office, the district dates to the 1903-1912 period.

The Salt Lake City and County Building at Fourth South and State Streetlies some 6.3 miles from the run's beginning. At this point participants cut through the grounds, known as Washington Square, to the corner of Second East and Fifth South, then to Sixth South. Before leaving the park some runners stopped to stretch tight muscles on park benches and stare at the gray, Utah Kyune sandstone structure of Romanesque Revival design. The building was dedicated in December, 1894, and with its massive symmetrical form contrasted sharply with the Salt Lake City skyline.

The last leg of the journey passed the Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church at 239 East 600 South. Built in about 1909, this structure housed Utah's first black congregation, which was organized in the 1880s. From Sixth South the fun runners turned south along Fifth East and returned to Liberty Park and the Isaac Chase Mill. As the group finished, most with beaming smiles, they gravitated back to the mill to discuss what they had seen.

It was the casual nature of the event, coupled with the novelty of running in the past, that made the run a success. Comments such as "I didn't know that building was important," or "I never noticed that before," were heard often both during and after the run. With this growing awareness of the Salt Lake City environment, many are anxiously awaiting the fun run of May, 1979.

Run Into Your Past

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This article is from:

Utah Preservation Restoration, Volume 1, 1979