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Show NFS Form 10-900-a (8-86) Utah WordPerfect Format OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 4 Star Hall, Moab, Grand County, UT In 1925, after Star Hall had been the center of church-sponsored activities for nineteen years, the IDS church sold all of Lot 1 in Block 18 to the Grand County School District. There is some confusion over the purchase price for the structure and property. The Times Independent newspaper stated that the Grand County School District had offered the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a total of $8,500 $7,000 was for Star Hall and one half of the adjoining lot and $1,500 for the church building (now the Daughters of Utah Pioneers building) and the rest of the property. According to the Times Independent, this total offer of $8,500 was accepted by the General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. However, the actual warranty deed filed July 11, 1925 and recorded July 10, 1926 indicates the church sold Lot 1 to the Grand County School District for $1.00. Whatever the actual purchase price, after Star Hall became school property in 1925, the school district hired noted Salt Lake architect, Walter E. Ware to examine the building. He proposed replacing the window glass, repairing doors and windows and placing a ceiling over the stage. As stated by the Times Independent: "The repairs contemplated will all tend to make the hall more comfortable during cold weather." Since the stage is covered with a ceiling today, it is likely these repairs were carried out about 1925, but the school district has no records of such expenditures. Whether or not Star Hall was altered in 1925, the school district continued to use Star Hall as a theater and auditorium, as well as a large classroom. In 1968 the Grand County School District hired the Salt Lake architectural firm of Richardson and Richardson to draft plans for remodelling the interior of the building. The main alteration at this time was 'tilting' (reconstructing) the main floor and balcony to provide a better view of the stage and installing 292 permanent seats (236 on the bottom and 56 in the balcony). This alteration of the interior allowed Star Hall to retain its original function as Moab's auditorium, theater, community meeting house, and civic center. To this day, public meetings, concerts, theatrical performances, and most other community functions are still held in Star Hall. The Richardsonian Romanesque style was made popular by Henry Hobson Richardson in the late 1800s and it was most frequently used for churches and county courthouses. It is therefore not surprising that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chose this impressive style for its local recreational hall, Star Hall. Hallmarks of the Richardsonian Romanesque style are semicircular arch motifs for windows, entry porches and doors; and rock-faceid stonework. Star Hall exemplifies this style in Utah, along with the Roman Catholic Rectory of the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City and the John Dixon house in Payson. X See continuation sheet 5Times Independent, 1925, Vol. 51, No. 23, page 1, column 3; and June 18, 1925, Vol. 51, No. 25, page 1, column 5. 6Thomas Carter and Peter Goss, Utah's Historic Architecture. 1847-1940 (Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press, 1988) pp.124-26. |
