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Show NPS Form 10-900a (Rev. 8-86) Utah Word Processor Format (02741) Approved 10/87 OMS No. 1024-0018 .United states Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET section number 7 Page 2 Stairs station Hydroelectric Power Plant Historic District, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah Constructed in 1894-1895, Stairs Hydroelectric Power Plant is located in Big Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City. Th e plant consists of a powerh o use , switch yard, dam, pipeline, sta ndpipe, and pensto ck, as well as a few a ncillary structures. Five of the s e features are contributing and three are non-cont r ibuting. Since its construction, Stairs has sustained alterations, such as the reconstruction of its original dam, changes to the standpipe , removal of the operator's camp, and replacement of the br i ck pa r apet around the top of the powerhouse. These altera t ions, however, do not compromise the plant's overall integrit y o f location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Stairs Station is still an outstanding e x ample of a hig h-head hydroelect r ic plant dati n g from the late nineteenth and earl y twent i eth cent u ries. Gene r al Setting Stairs Station is located appro x imatel y eight mile s sou t heast o f Salt La ke City, Utah in Big Cottonwood Can yo n al o ng state highway number 15 2 . Stairs Station is a bout two and one- half mi l es upstream from the Granite Power Plant , and is su rr ounded by the Wasatch National Forest. Lying in a narrow part of the can yon , the Stairs powe r house i s squeezed between the hig hway , about 15 feet to the north, a nd Big Cotto nwo o d Cree k to t he s o ut h. Movin g in a westerly fashion, the cree k flows past the powerhouse and pools behind a dam just below t he plant which d iv erts wate r for the Granite Hydroelectric Power Plant. An asphalt driveway provides access to the highway on the west side of the station, crosses a wooden bridge over Big Cottonwood Creek and enters a flat area used as a recreation and picnic site. Th i s open space is lined with shade trees as is the driveway into the plant. Originally a shop/garage stood where now picnic tables are circled around a fire pit. The recreatio n area was almost totally rebuilt afte r a major flood destro yed the previous facility i n the ear ly 1980s. To the east of the picni c a r ea and sand volleyball pit are the foundations of two operators' houses, toda y almost covered with vegetation. These homes ha ve been removed. Steep canyon walls rise behind the recreation are a , to the south. |
