Stephen C. Richards has fond memories of his days as a student at Irving Junior High School in the late 1920s.
Names of favorite teachers come quickly to the mind of the 81-year-old Salt Lake man as he watches his old school's evolution to a new age.What was the Irving School, 1200 E. 2100 South, will be 232 one- and two-bedroom apartments by next year, Mayor Deedee Corradini announced Thursday.
Corradini praised the Sugar House community and city officials for giving the scarred landmark a new life as the Irving Schoolhouse Apartments.
"Another eyesore is going to hit the dust," Corradini said. "This is going to continue to fill the need for additional housing in the city."
Corradini was applauded for her efforts in ensuring the building's facade remain a part of the new project. The red brick exterior, built in 1916, will front the complex. It will also house a collection of Irving Junior High School memorabilia donated by former students.
"It's a good idea," Richards said. "It is a shame it got burned the way it did."
Closed in the 1970s, the building suffered five fires in its 20 years of vacancy. In 1994, the city's redevelopment agency began its involvement in the project. The RDA worked with the historic landmark committee to rid the site of its crime troubles and secure housing for the area.
Del Brewster, president of the Sugar House Area Chamber of Commerce, praises this is as one of the best things that's happened to Sugar House in recent years.
"We're just elated," he said.
President of Irving's Parent Teacher Association in 1965 and 1966, Eunice Hollingshaus has lived in Sugar House for 57 years. She supports the project.
"I'm so glad they left something here to remind us of it."
The apartments will rent for a projected $650 to $1,100 a month. The complex will include a recreation center, said Mike Pacillio of Ewing Properties of Dallas, who along with Irving Court of Salt Lake City, make up Irving Schoolhouse, the project's developer.
The Irving Schoolhouse Apartments project follows another recent city success in downtown's Block 49.
"This is as important an endeavor as getting the housing and hotel developments under way on Block 49. These two new projects are symbols of the overall growing economy and well-being of Salt Lake City. Each is extremely important to the neighborhoods it sits in, and each will improve the quality of life in those neighborhoods and in the city," Corradini said.