HOLLADAY — When Holladay Elementary School closed its doors to students in June 2002, the future of the building remained uncertain.
Granite School District was negotiating with Holladay city officials at the time on a sale of the building and grounds, but no definite plans for its future had been made. The school has occupied a significant place in the hearts of many Holladay residents since its opening in 1928.
The city is undertaking a $2.5 million renovation to turn the school into its new offices and city hall. Funding for the project is being provided by a bond the city passed for purchasing and renovating the school, among other projects.
Part of the reason the city chose to buy the school is because of its importance to the city and residents.
"It has some historical significance. That's the main reason the city wanted to purchase it — to preserve that," said Holladay City Manager Randy Fitts.
"I was always in favor of saving the building structurally if it could be saved," said Holladay City Council member Lynn Pace. "It would serve a dual purpose as a community center, city hall and police station. It represents a significant portion of history for the community. Saving the building itself is a recognition that we value that history."
The school was first built in 1928 as a four-room elementary for pupils in grades one through four. As the city grew, so did its school. Major additions were made in 1932, 1948 and 1956.
Another reason city officials were so interested in the building is because it is surrounded by a large playing field that could potentially be turned into a city park. It was the open space that first attracted city officials to it, but as they looked closer at purchasing the building, they saw the possibilities of moving city hall there and having office space of their own, as their current offices are rented, Fitts said.
Having enough space is a concern for the city, Pace said. The office space the city is currently renting is not sufficient for its purposes. Originally, there was interest in Holladay Elementary when the Granite School District closed it. The city's intention was to preserve the park space around it, but the possibility of using it as office space opened up after the city acquired the property. The park could possibly be used to create a city hall and a community center, Pace said.
Officials from Granite School District are happy with the city's decision to renovate the school, especially as this means it will be preserved.
"We certainly favor it. We're pleased that they purchased the building," said Randy Ripplinger, Granite School District spokesman. "Holladay city is going to maintain this historical building of importance to the community. It's good that it's still going to be a public building."
Ripplinger said the project hasn't received opposition from the public, which he attributes to a couple of factors.
"First, people's main interest is in preserving the building for historical purposes. That's what the city is doing," he said. "Secondly, it's always stressful to the community to have a school closed and move from one to another, but by the time the building turned over, Holladay students had been out of it for two years. The two events were not tied as closely together as they would have been if the school closed and it immediately turned over. The students were long gone before the city took over.
"Structurally, the building is in good shape, Fitts said. It was in use up until a year ago, even though Holladay students had vacated it two years before. The building was used to house students from William Penn Elementary while they waited for their school to be rebuilt. They only moved into their new building in October 2004, Ripplinger said.
Fitts feels having the city offices in the area where the school is located will have a good effect.
"It's going to be a positive influence in that area over there. There's a possibility that the open space around the site could open up as a larger park area. It should be in fairly good shape," he said.
Pace encourages residents to let the city know if they have any ideas about what the park around the school should look like.
"We haven't come up with a plan on where ballfields and parks will be and what uses we should try to accommodate there. We welcome input from interested citizens," he said.
E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com