At the same date and hour when it officially opened 90 years before, Snow College officials rededicated the historic Noyes Building on the Ephraim campus Friday.
Speakers remembered the dedication on Nov. 5, 1909, when LDS Church President Joseph F. Smith was present to dedicate the signature building of what was then the Sanpete Stake Academy. Eventually, the name of the school was changed to Snow Academy and then to Snow College when it moved from LDS Church control to state sponsorship in 1932.Elder Russell M. Nelson, member of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke before offering the dedicatory prayer. Eight of Elder Nelson's great-grandparents lived in Ephraim. His mother was born in the house where the college's Activity Center now sits. His father was a member of the faculty of the Snow Academy.
"We do not apologize for a reverent respect for our heritage. Deafness in history can lead to blindness of the future," Elder Nelson said. "We gratefully acknowledge our ancestors and re-evaluate ourselves through personal introspection."
The dedication was a tribute to people of the Sanpete Valley who spent 10 years constructing the Noyes Building from 1899 to 1909. Originally, Ephraim city donated money, and residents donated labor. Residents cut stones and timber, laid brick and collected nickels and eggs.
"This building is graced by sweat, sacrifice and a bushel of eggs. That is sacred. I hope you will feel the spirit of the people who sacrificed to make it an ensign and icon to education. May we be true to their trust," Snow President Gerald Day said.
The building has been under reconstruction since November 1996. Officially the building has undergone an adaptive reuse, not a renovation. The building was entirely gutted except for two main bearing walls that split the building into thirds.
The project, which came in under its budget of $6.6 million, included a seismic upgrade and an increase to the usable space in the building from about 37 percent to 67 percent.
Originally the building had three floors. It now has four, including a ballroom on the top level. Pieces of the old dance floor were being sold Friday as souvenirs. The original structure had no foundation, but one was added during the renovation. The exterior was cleaned by shooting concrete at the facade. New additions to the building include stained glass windows, which were added to fulfill a 1 percent public art mandate, and a heritage conference room.
The building is named for Newton E. Noyes, the school's third principal who served for a record 29 years. The building was the only one on the Snow campus until 1912 when the gymnasium was built.
Day quoted from Noyes' journal account of the building dedication in 1909: "Greatest day educationally in the city of Ephraim."
"My first priority was to restore (the building) in a way that would be fitting," Day said. "I wonder if today isn't the greatest day in education in Ephraim."