RIVERTON — Leesa Lloyd is admiring the 1920s drapes in Riverton's historic Crane House. The intricate threading, the regal crane print. Next, it's the original parlor doors, built by her great-grandfather Carl Madsen and still in working order. Now the built-in living room cabinet, housing wooden toys carved by George Milton Crane. Lloyd has seen it all hundreds of times before, but her passion never wanes.
She sighs and runs her hand along a pump organ from Riverton's Old Dome Church. "Today, there's hardly anything left in Riverton of historical significance. The Crane House is one of those few things," said Lloyd, chairwoman of the Riverton Museum at the Crane House board. "Thousands of people literally volunteered to restore and renovate that home. It was saved by Riverton — and it needs to stay a public building."
The Crane House, named after original owners Heber and Mary Crane, has served as the Riverton Art Museum since 1996. As the city cultural center, the art museum offers historic tours, rotating art exhibits and numerous public events — all free.
But if the city opts during a council meeting Tuesday to sell the land to a developer, the future of the heart of Riverton could be in jeopardy.
Built in 1916 for the Cranes and their 10 children, the home has been through the hands of several people over the years. Twice the Crane Home was a restaurant, then later office space for an insurance company.
In 1996, owners of the Peterson's Marketplace redevelopment wanted to demolish the building for new business. Led by then-Mayor Sandra Lloyd, the city, residents and local businesses raised enough money and volunteer labor to move the house from the corner of Redwood Road and 12600 S. to 1640 West 13200 S.
It's a campaign still fresh in Leesa Lloyd's mind. Daughter of Sandra, Leesa remembers her mother working closely with Joe Beesley, who donated a chunk of his five-acre farm on Riverton Cemetery Road for the museum. A Taco Bell is operating on the home's original foundation.
It took $72,000 to move the home nearly a mile up Redwood Road, and when the house was set at what was supposed to be its final resting spot, it straddled city land and Beesley's property.
No one is sure how that awkward placement came about. At the time of the building's move 13 years ago, Beesley and Sandra Lloyd had some sort of handshake agreement to allow the building to be leased on the spot of Beesley property. Beesley had a good relationship with the city and even discussed a long-range plan with Sandra to donate the rest of his land for a historical park, Leesa Lloyd said.
Both Beesley and the elder Lloyd have since passed away. And Beesley's grandson sold the land to Nancy Long, a developer outside of the family who is already selling pieces of the undeveloped farm for ½-acre residential lots and wants to buy the Crane House for a doll museum. The lease on her property where part of the Crane House and the parking lot were built is up. Long wants the matter resolved.
Repeated calls to Long were not returned. The developer of popular shopping district Gardner Village in West Jordan, Long transformed the old Gardner Mill into specialty shops in the restored cabins and buildings on the property. And the beginnings of a doll museum at Gardner Village are already in the works.
Owners of the Georgell Doll Shop, a store that couples specialty doll items with historic display space, hope to move to museum space to house Utahn Lucile Georgell's collection of 10,000 dolls.
An employee at the shop Friday said Long has talked of moving the collection to Crane House.
"Of anyone I know, Nancy Long is the one who would have a strong interest to care for that home in a historic way," said Riverton Mayor Bill Applegarth. "Gardner Village speaks for her very well. What will Nancy do with the (Riverton) property if she buys it? I think she would treat it very well, and I think she has a great love for that home. But it will be her property, and the city can't legally direct anyone to do anything with that property."
Leesa Lloyd, on the other hand, is nervous Long would turn the free city cultural center into a private admission-based doll house.
"I have nothing against this woman, I don't know her. I just don't think she should be able to swoop in and take Riverton property," Lloyd said.
Ten volunteers run Crane House, and the museum saw fewer than 1,100 visitors in 2008.
Costs to run the museum and its programming have come almost entirely from grants. The city budgets roughly $17,000 a year in utility costs and property tax on the property.
The City Council must decide if it should sell the home for market value (according to the county assessor, $141,000) to Long or buy the land in question. City attorney Ryan Carter said Long is not willing to sell, so the city would have to purchase the property through eminent domain. Early estimates put the costs of acquiring the property through a court battle at $400,000. Moving the house would cost nearly half a million.
In the midst of a national recession, Applegarth poses the question: "Is that wise to do financially?"
Museum advocates point out that the city budgets a significant amount of money for sports programs, athletic fields and the new water park and ask, what about arts and culture?
"If the city sells it, they're losing one of their last treasures," said Carolyn Smith Brown, the youngest granddaughter of the Cranes and former museum chairwoman. "If it's given up, then they're literally giving up what Riverton and every community needs: their heritage. A reminder of their history and place."
Brown refers to the art museum as a home because that's what it was to her. She spent hours studying at her grandpa's desk, reading in the window seat and learning to bake a pie with grandma in the kitchen. The smell of ginger snap cookies seems still to waft in the air when she visits.
Heber, a rancher, "gave his all to the community," Brown says, as he co-owned the local movie theater, car dealership and served on the boards of numerous Riverton companies. Mary also opened her home to people passing through who needed a meal. The Cranes also lit up their large pine tree every year for Christmas, a favorite Riverton tradition.
And it's worth the hefty price tag to retain the historical essence, promote the sense of community and save Riverton's only public cultural center, Brown said.
Residents have a chance to weigh in on the debate at a public hearing Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Riverton Civic Center, 12765 S. 1400 West. Results of a survey by Riverton-based Lighthouse Research will be presented, and the council could make its final decision.
e-mail: astowell@desnews.com
Timeline:
1899: Heber Stewart Crane and wife Mary Jane Miller purchase property on the southeast corner of Redwood Road and 12600 South.
1916: The Cranes hire brother-in-law Carl Madsen to build a two-story home on the property for them and their 10 children.
1947: Heber passes away.
1958: Mary Jane passes away. House purchased by Lorin and Lucille Miller.
1983: House purchased by David and Therese Bovee, who turn it into the Evergreen Restaurant. It later becomes the Golden Tree Cafe and is finally converted into office space.
1996: The Peterson's Marketplace redevelopment wants to demolish the building for new businesses. The Bovee's donate the home to the city. Riverton Mayor Sandra Lloyd works with the city council, youth council, Butterfield Ford and locals to raise enough money to move the house. Crane House is moved to 1640 W. 13200 S., on land donated by Joe Beesley. The house straddles Riverton property and Beesley's property – the chunk of private property where the house sits is leased to the city for a nominal fee.
2000: With help from the city and donations, the Crane House is restored to its original likeness. It becomes The Riverton Art Museum, with gallery space upstairs and historical furnishings on the main floor.
2005: Sandra Lloyd passes away.
2007: Joe Beesley passes away.
2008: Beesley property is sold to Nancy Long.