ST. GEORGE — Plans to construct the only public restrooms within miles of the Mountain Meadows Massacre site were delayed recently after an Arkansas descendant objected to the project.
The restrooms, planned as a service project by members of the Southern Utah Home Builders Association, are to be built just south of the parking lot area at the lower grave site memorial.
Two monuments at the historical site honor the memory of 120 Arkansas emigrants who were killed there by a group of Indians and local Mormon settlers Sept. 11, 1857, as they made their way to California.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns a portion of the 10-acre monument property, while the U.S. Forest Service owns the rest. The Utah Division of State Parks maintains a portion of the federal land.
Bevan Killpack, district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service where the lower monument site is located, said Thursday a member of the Mountain Meadows Association did not want the project to continue.
There was one individual in the association who decided because the association won't get its name on the restrooms, it wouldn't be done, Killpack said. "He said it wasn't fair, and he wanted it stopped."
Kent Bylund, a St. George developer and member of SUHBA, said although the project had been stalled, it wouldn't be stopped.
"I think we'll still get it done," said Bylund, who also serves as a member of the board of directors of the Mountain Meadows Association.
The project requires a special use permit from the U.S. Forest Service. But an earlier permit issued to the state parks service for improvements to the parking lot did not include additional amenities, Killpack said.
"It (the restrooms project) was not requested in the original application so we're doing the application again," he said. "But we will get them their permit."
Work on the $10,000 facility had already begun July 25 when the project was halted. Local youth groups volunteered several hours toward clearing shrubs from the site. All other labor and materials for the project will be provided by SUHBA members.
"I'm sure we'll have everything signed by the end of September and they can begin building," Killpack said.
Bylund said the association's annual meeting in St. George Sept. 8 could include a move by Utah descendants to form their own group separate from the Arkansas descendants.
"We've agreed to put off that discussion until the annual board meeting," he said.
The number of visitors to the massacre site has significantly increased over the past few years, Killpack said.
"It's amazing how many people come. It's probably doubled, and on a weekend like Labor Day weekend, I think we'll get up to 150 people coming there. They definitely need those restrooms," he said.
The remains of about 30 massacre victims were reburied at the site following their discovery in 1999 during repairs to one of the monuments. The men, women and children killed there were members of the Baker-Fancher wagon train. Local Mormon settlers and Indians participated in the massacre, and the subject has long been a source of debate and controversy. Seventeen children survived and were later returned to relatives in Arkansas.
E-mail: nperkins@redrock.com