113053

Page 213

Photos courtesy of Nadine Nibley 5;tone building was constructed lie Institution. One of over 120 co-ops organized throughout the "Mormon Corridor", the Co-op stood Idle for more than 15 years. Restoration of the Co-op was completed just In time for the 1990 Scandinavian Days. Today it is landscaped and open for business .. n of Ephraim Co-op is a story with a happy ending ' :tme was changed again to the ,nction Co-op. Even though the spirit of coop'ation was good , too many people ok out too much credit and could Jt pay their bills. Throughout the ate, the cooperatives ended, and .her kinds of stores took their ace. The Ephraim building then lUsed many different kinds of lsinesses, including a farm imement store, a car repair garage, od part of a mill complex, known the Ephraim Roller Mills: The upstairs .continued to have tried activities including dances, eEphraim City North Ward Re,f Society Meetings and the owing of the first silent movies town. But eventually all of these activios ceased and the Bank of lhraim was left with an empty tilding that was quickJy falling to disrepair. Its future looked as bleak as all the other historic co-op build~s. It seemed destined to be deolished - and a part of ,hraim's and the west's history. lUld be forever lost. In 1969, the middle section phraim Roller Mill) that concted the old Cooperative with , Relief Society Granary , was .'11 down and plans were made to I the comer of both of its old ildings. Richard and· Nadine Nibley ew they had to do something to eserve the heritage of early )hraim. Along with nearly 70 ler people either from the area with roots in it, they formed the npete D'evelopment Corporan. They bought shares and acired the properly froni the Bank Ephraim. They did not yet know what uld become of the buildings ; 'y only had faith that it was the ht thing to do. Indeed. a new kind of pioneer was born - one the concepts grew, so did the numwho knew somehow that preserv- ber of people who came to believe ing the past would benefit the fu- in it. Citizens, college employees, ture. Ephraim city officials, USU CounWhen the corporation could no ty Extension personnel and Sixlonger sustain its payments, Orson County commissioners began to Lauritzen and Don Montgomery , work together. The restoration of of L & M 'Enterprises, paid the the old Co-op building began to act mortgage off. as a flagship to show what can be In 1975, Dr. Sheril V. Hill , a done. Although the ST A worked hard new Dean of Instruction of Snow College and a lover of Theatre to find a way to preserve the buildArts, created the Sanpete Commu- ing , their best funding source, the nity Theatre Group. Its members Community Impact Board could envisioned the old Cooperative as only give money to eligible city both a headquarter! and a good governments. Thus , Ed Meyer from the State place to produce plays. . This enthusiastic group obtained Rural Economic Development Ofa $5,000 Bi-centennial grant to pay fice and Alan Fawcett from the Six-County Commission Office, helped develop a unique partnerbetween the ST A and It seemed destined to ship Ephraim City. be demolished and a It proved to be a wonderful example of a symbiotic relationship: I part of Ephraim's the City could tum an eyesore into a beautiful comer, and ST A could history would be lost. carry out its plan for economic and historic development. Under the mayorship of Robert· for repairing the trusses and the roof. Another grant from the Utah Warnick, STA presented its plan State Hislorical Society paid for twice before the cm. Both times members were encouraged to reother structural repairs. While an architect was hired and fine their plans and gain even more plans drawn up, ultimately a thea- city .backing. Finally the right ter did not seem to fit as the answer combination was made. , On Feb. 2, 1989, Robert Stodfor the old building's use. It remained standing in general disre- dard, Sandra Lanier and Lynn Schiffman presented the plan that pair for another 15 years. . The SDA went defunct. Durings netted $330,000 for the restoration most of the 1980' s, the buildings of the old Co-op and Ephraim Square. . were given up for dead. Calculating' the average number In the later 1980's, amidst renewed rumblings for demolition, of people (10) who spent the avertwo local groups formed - inter- age number of hours per week (3) ested in developing an arts and for the past four years at $5 per hour, the figure of $30,000 in lacrafts industry in·Ephraim. Once discovering each other, bor in kind emerges. Already STA has produced its the two formed the Sanpete Trade Association and solicited interest first catalogue and sent out over 5300 mailings. All work from the in restoring the buildings. At first, the burden of a dream conception of the idea, to the orwas ona few shoulders only , but as ganizing of the crafters, to the ju- rying of each piece of work, to the drawing of pictures and the layoug of pages, to the writing and typing of a script, to the printing, to phon· ing, bank accounting , to actual mailing, receiving and shipping of orders has been volunteered . The building is being restored to its original purpose and its integrity being preserved. Cooper/Roberts Architects of Salt Lake City designed the resto- ration, calling for returning both inside and out to its original appearance. The first floor has become a cooperative venture once more as talented craftsmen and artists display their wares for economic security and the second floor has once again become a conununity center for meetings , wedding receptions, dances, plays and other such activ-~ ity.