AMERICAN FORK — A $1.7 million restoration of the century-old City Hall is under way — one window, one door, one ceiling tile at a time.
"American Fork is only about 150 years old," former Councilwoman Juel Belmont said. "We need to save our heritage."
American Fork has lost a lot of architectural history, including the LDS Tithing Office, Chipman Mercantile and the original library, said Belmont, who leads the Historic Preservation Committee here.
Plans are to restore City Hall, a Victorian Romanesque Revival-style building, and make it a city hall and cultural center. The original drawings for City Hall were destroyed in a 1982 fire, so a certain discovery process is part of restoration. When the ceiling was removed, project manager Steve Moon found an ornate tin ceiling that was two feet higher. Also found was an 80-square-foot room hidden behind a wall.
Melanie Marsh, American Fork's chief of staff, says the city is seeking donations to help pay the $25,000 extra it will cost to restore the tin tiles, moldings and other adornments.
Once the work ends in June, City Hall will be completely refurbished. The original glass will be saved in semicircular windows above the building's east and west entrances. City Hall's stairwells, doors, windows, wood trim, first-floor safe and other items will be restored.
The first floor will have office space for the Arts Council, classrooms for art instruction and a ticket table. The tin ceiling over the hallway will be redone, along with the tin ceiling on the second floor, where the City Council and Planning Commission will meet. The area also will be opened up for teas, recitals, plays and concerts for audiences of 100 or slightly more. Art and historical photos will put on the walls.
There will be a belfry — but no bats — and a new bell. The old bell tower atop the building was removed during remodeling about 1960.
"The wood was rotting so they tore it down ... and the bell became part of a monument the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers put up in Robinson Park," said American Fork history buff Betty Spencer.
A new bell will be purchased to take its place.
"It probably will be an electric bell that rings every 15 minutes and chimes on the hour," Belmont said.
City Hall was designed by James Pulley and built for $15,000, and early American Fork residents considered it a towering achievement, Spencer said.
"It was the tallest building in the community and the structure that people were the most proud of," she said. "Fifteen-thousand dollars was a fortune back in 1903."
City Hall also physically and symbolically separated church and state in the Utah County city. Prior to its construction, government and religious meetings often were in the same building, as was the case in the now-gone Social Hall that once was at the north end of Church Street.
Marsh said preserving City Hall is key to reviving downtown American Fork.
"This is where it starts," she said.