The City Council has developed a financing package to provide funds for the completion of the Ephraim Square project that involves the restoration of three historic Main Street buildings.
The package includes the issuance of $179,544 in restoration redevelopment 20-year bonds. The city will place $35,000, raised through private donations, in escrow, which, with interest, will pay off the bond issue.The money will pay for the restoration of the Relief Society Granary, one of three buildings included in the Ephraim Square Project. It will also pay for the installation of an elevator to provide better access to the other two buildings - the old mill and the adjacent stone house - the development of a parking lot east of the buildings and landscaping for the entire area.
Work on the exterior of the granary will include the installation of new doors and windows and the restoration of the stone walls to something like their original appearance. The interior will be remodeled to provide quarters for an information center and a pioneer museum.
The landscaping will be appropriate to the square's pioneer theme.
The first phase of the restoration included outside work on the old mill and the stone house. The ground floor of the old mill was converted for use as a Sanpete Trades Association facility that is now used by 60 craftsmen. The upper floor was remodeled for use for seminars, club meetings, receptions and similar activities.
The stone house was remodeled to include public restrooms, offices and a food services facility.
The entire complex had been abandoned for years and was in a state of deterioration when the city acquired the site and undertook its rehabilitation as the Ephraim Square project.
"Our purpose was twofold," Mayor Robert Warnick says, "economic development and historic preservation. We feel that we are well on our way to achieving both goals."
The mayor might have added that the project had a third purpose: removing an ugly blot in the Main Street business district and replacing it with an attractive civic center.