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MAR 14 1~~'t UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION Clipping Service [phone] PROVO DAILY HERALD Hutchings ' 1. '\ By JULIAN MERCER Herald Correspondent LEHI - Renovation work has begun on the Memorial Building in preparation for housing the Hutchings Museum. It is hoped the museum can be moved to the downtown location within the next eight or nine months depending on how quickly the. work can be completed. . In order to house the many artifacts and rare items that were collected over the years by John Hutchings who began the museum , .it' ~iII be necessary for the renovation to be rathe r extensive and sophisticated with proper and almost total control of the environment to preclude destruction of the items from improper light, humidity and other factors. The three-sectioned Spanish mission style building is said to be the first municipal facility in America constructed as a memori·al for World War I Veterans. Built .at a cost of $55,000, the structure was dedicated on May 31, 1926. Historians say much of the lumber used in the Memorial Building was once part of the old pavilion that was built in 1900 at the city \ ,Park where the rodeo gro unds are M'useum awaits new home in Lehi Memorial Building . . now located at 100 North on 500 West. A s indicated, the building was designed with three parts. The center main entrance area was for the memorial, which now honors veterans from a ll wars, whi le the sections on either side were used to hou se ci ty offices, a jail, city library and more. The basement was once used for the home of the Lehi unit of the National Guard and before that, because all lohi students went to school close by , it was <Iecided the basement would b·e suitable for serving school lunch for all the students. The plan was to have the renovation work well under way by now, but when the bids were opened last fall, they were all rejected because most far exceeded the arch itectural and engineering estimates ci ty and museum officials felt prudent. It was decided that much of !he preliminary work such as tcaring down the old ambu lance facility on the south of the building could be done by vo lun teers from the American Legion and others, and perhaps lower the over-all cost so the new bids, which wi ll be let this spring. will be more ill-line with the budgetary constraints. The main entrance of the Spanish sty le building will still be for . , J . the Veteran's Memorial and the plaques and memorabilia that are there now in honor of the veterans will basically be the same when the building is finished. According to Harva rd Hinton, president of the Hutch ings Museum Board of Directors, the veterans will also have a space in the basement for offices and a meeting area. The lohi Historical Preservation Commission ,has also been hoping to have another old lohi building, the Union Pacific Railroad Depot, moved to a location behind the Memorial Building and used as an integral part of the museum. However, because the project did not qualify for a grant from·the State Highway Commission, city officials and members of the commission are looking at the possibility of moving the depot back to its original location between the Union Pacific tracks and highway 91, at approximately 200 East State. The project would then qualify for a g rant , a nd the building could be re stored and the area beautified making the. who le project much more beneficial to the community. Herald Photo/Jason Olson Work is being done on the L~hi Memorial Building in preparation for housing the collections of the Hutchings Museum now located elsewhere in Lehi. Lehi historian, Richard Van Wagoner. wou ld like to see th~ depot used for a visitors center with a display area for some of the thousands of photographs he has in hi s possession. The Hi sto ri ca l Prese rvation Commission and Lehi Chamber of Commerce would also be interested in space in the two story depot which was built in 1873, and wi ll soon be placed on the National H istoric Register.