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Show H~n\tI(f " ~)"1AJJ \~9' \AI LS Ah q PROFILE OF A PRESERVATION _PROJECT: WORKING WITH THE FAITH OF A MUSTARD SEED by Allen Roberts, AlA On a quiet Saturday morning in late May, 1990, the sidewalk: along the Main Street of Ephraim, Utah began filling with an unusual crowd of people. A rural town of close to 3,000 residents, Ephraim is the self-proclaimed center and "heart" of both Sanpete County and the state of Utah. By mid-morning the town's population had swelled as local folk: mingled with former residents and visitors awaiting the commencement of Scandinavian Days festivities. This year's crowd seemed larger than ever and the reason was apparent to everyone. People were making an extra effort to see the newly restored "Co-op" building, the City'S most monumental, revered yet controversial landmark-an edifice that - had sat vacant and desolate for decadesseemingly destined for a fatal appoint- The Ephraim Cooperative Mercantile Building (restored) and the Granary (work in progress). Photo courtesy of Allen Roberts ment with the wrecker's ball. .~Bui1t in.187 l -12 ...together,with a granary located a short distance to the south, the two-story, limestone building had been constructed as the Ephraim Co-operative Mercantile Institution, its long name painted in delicate Gothic letters on a panel over the storefront doors and windows. A beehive, with an all-seeing eye and the inscription, "Holiness the Lord," were painted in a large semi-circular panel in the gable wall above the second story windows. These symbols reminded townspeople in the all-Mormon community that secular and spiritUal concerns were one and that God expected honesty in business dealings. The name and symbols also informed the viewer that the store was a link in the chain of the Zions Co-operative Mercantile (ZCMI) system established in 1868 by Mormon Church president Brigham Young. It :waSiJOrre ' £.. ov.ev. 1'29 co-ops organized throughout the 500-city "Mormon Corridor" stretching from Canada to Mexico and from the Rocky Mountains to California. In .1874 when Young restructured the co-ops under the auspices of a church communal system called the United 0rder; Ephraim's: store, became-a United 0rder CO-0Pi - Of all the co-op buildings erected during 3 continued on page 4 |
