| DATE 4/28/2003 4:55 PM |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89. Forest Service Grants to Support Preservation, Development Projects |
| Three significant restoration and development projects in Sanpete County have received grants from the U.S. Forest Service via the Manti La Sal National Forest and Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council.In Centerfield, the beneficiary of a $15,000 grant is the LDS Meetinghouse, built in 1886. Local preservationists, overseen by resident Debbie Hansen, have been working to restore the structure for some time. They already secured a Certified Local Governments Program grant from the Utah Division of State History to help finance the project, which will now be supplemented by the U.S. Forest Service grant.
Now owned by the city, the former LDS Meetinghouse is built of oolite, stone and wood. It has a T-shaped floor plan and consists of two sections. Its steep, pitched, sloping roof is its distinguishing design feature, and it also boasts nine-foot panel doors, wainscotting and unique moulding. A tower was later added in 1897. The meeting house has stood vacant and has been neglected for years and once restored will be used as a community and vocational center. A $7,500 grant was awarded to Illusion Academy and Mt Pleasant City to provide computer use and advanced training to students at Snow College and throughout the region. Illusion Academy is a “high tech center” that houses the computer illustration business as well as providing space for a community classroom and Internet Café. Owned by Dean Kleven, a computer illustrator who has worked for Disney and Dream Works, the business is located in Mt. Pleasant’s old industrial arts building, once part of Sanpete County’s high school. The computer designs Kleven and his partners create are used in children’s books, as well as high-tech digital imaging and three-dimensional graphics, such as the kind used to produce movies such as Toy Story. The U.S. Forest Service grant will be used to construct work stations to teach students and to offer permanent, part-time jobs to qualified artists in the area. In Fountain Green, a project to restore the town’s Social Hall received an $11,600 grant. The money will be used to help restore the 1918 structure to its former glory. Preservationists including Dean Peckham have already raised some $300,000 for the project, in addition to securing a $45,000 grant from the George S. and Delores Eccles Foundation. Peckham said the group is in the process of applying for an additional $180,000 grant from the Community Impact Board to finish the project. Once complete, the social hall will be used as a community gathering place. |
| For more information Contact:Monte Bona Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council (435) 462-2502 |