PRESTON, Idaho — A preservation group says a $100,000 gift from an anonymous donor will allow restoration to begin on the facade of a landmark 120-year-old school building in southern Idaho.

The Herald-Journal of Logan reports that the Oneida Stake Academy building restoration effort in Preston also received a $50,000 matching grant from the Murdock Charitable Trust.

Foundation board members hope to reshape the former school into a visitors' center, a local history museum and a venue for community events.

Friends of the Academy foundation board President Nathan Hale calls the building one of five remaining examples of 35 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints academies built around the country.

Officials list former Mormon presidents Harold B. Lee and Ezra Taft Benson among local notables who attended the school.

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— Associated Press

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