PROVO — As a child, Leslie Gledhill spent many afternoons at the Brigham Young University women's gym, stretching and tumbling as college girls took gymnastics lessons.
Now, decades later, Gledhill and her husband have pulled the building out of crumbling obscurity, preserving its memory while using the structure for their business.
"That building has been a favorite of mine forever," said Gledhill, co-owner of Cherry Lane Keepsakes and new owner of the piece of architectural history. "It's just like home to me. I've loved it."
Camped on the corner of 500 N. University Ave., the women's gym was completed in 1913. It also housed men's basketball games, as well as high school dances and social activities, according to "Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years," a compilation of BYU's history edited by Ernest L. Wilkinson.
The university sold the building in 1979, and after another sale it became a thrift store for nearly 15 years. In July, Gledhill and her husband, Michael, stepped up and paid $1 million for the building.
"Everybody has been trying to find a way to use it, keep it in the same (condition)," Michael Gledhill said. "We didn't buy it to tear it down. We want to make it look nice and use the building for something economically viable."
But that was the puzzle. How do you make a business profitable when there were fewer than a dozen parking stalls for customers?
Cherry Lane Keepsakes is a perfect fit, the Gledhills say, because it's an Internet gift company. They show off their wares in a small gift shop and display area in the front of the building, but the rest of the 20,000-square-foot building — in its original state — is piled with boxes to complete Internet orders.
The Gledhills, who both grew up in Provo, had been eyeing the building ever since they learned their old store's location on 154 N. University Ave. was slated for destruction to make way for a new Zions Bank project.
"I love older homes," Leslie Gledhill said. "You just look at a building, and you know there's got to be a lot of history and stories. To keep character of the town, I think it needs to retain some of its historical buildings."
Provo city also applauds the family's actions with the gym.
"Many in Provo understand the value of preserving the ties and memories with our past," said Mayor Lewis Billings. "We are thrilled that yet another important tie, in the the form of a historic structure, in our city has been given the attention and new life it deserves."
The Gledhills bought the building in July and were cleaning until the first of November, when they opened.
Employees power-scrubbed the outer brick walls, put in new windows and doors, cleaned and polished the inside and paved the gravel parking lot.
"I think it's extraordinary what the family has done," said John Murphy, a librarian at BYU. "I'm very pleased that they've stepped in and saved the building. It's a building with a wonderful history. ... It adds a lot to our community."
Despite all the new paint and patching, the wooden gym floor is the same, minus some holes for electrical and plumbing updates. There's a new office in back, but it still has the same Army green lockers and shower heads in the basement locker rooms.
And what has the community said about the changes?
"People come in off the street for no other reason than to say they appreciate it," Gledhill said.
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