Emery Town works to preserve iconic church building

Completed Engineering Study allows restoration to begin
Completion of a long-awaited engineering study on the town’s former meeting hall will permit preservation work to begin. 
The study was commissioned under a grant from the Utah Division of State History. Mayor Gary Petty stated that “We are in the process of trying to preserve this special building, it definitely needs to be preserved, and we will seek outside funding to do that.” 
The town’s Master Plan calls for the classic building to again be used as a Community Center.
Since 1900, the building was used as a church, school and community center for Emery Town. 
Rich in history and memories, the wooden structure is unique in its New England clapboard siding, adobe brick insulation, tall Georgian windows and bell tower. 
Roller-skating, movies, plays, the annual Deer Hunters’ Ball, and Senior Center lunches were the main activities for decades. 
As the oldest community building in existence in Emery County, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. 
Use of the site was suspended in 2001 when groundwater seepage caused sinking of the foundation. Visiting the site with the engineers for the first time in about 12 years, Mayor Petty noted that not much had changed with the building since the foundation had been stabilized.
“That’s a good sign that it has remained in good shape for all this time,” said Mayor Petty.
The study recommends the foundation be shored up as one of the first steps. Emery Town is in the process of placing an up-gradient irrigation canal into a pipe. This should eliminate most of the groundwater flow. Shoring the bell tower, painting and siding repairs are also on the list. 
Emery Town residents have formed a non-profit organization, raised funding via a winter ball, summer cookouts, and mug sales to match the current grant. 
For more information, contact ShaLane Christiansen, Emery Town Council at 435-286- 2417, or Mary Ann Wright, Emery Town Heritage Council at 801-502-9611.