Pub. 4 2016 Issue 1

www.uba.org 18 AMERICAN FORK HISTORIC BUILDING AT 1 EAST MAIN STREET IN AMERICAN FORK NAMED A UTAH DESIGN AND CON- STRUCTION 2015 “MOST OUTSTANDING PROJECT” Historic restoration was honored alongside the LDS Pro- vo City Center Temple this week The restoration of the historic building at 1 East Main Street in American Fork has been named “Most Outstand- ing Project” in the small renovation/restoration category for 2015 by Utah Design and Construction. The resto- ration was completed by People’s Utah Bancorp, with CRSA as the architectural firm and Big-D Construction as the demolition and construction team. Utah Construction and Design honors projects completed during 2015, which are selected by a panel of industry professionals in the architectural, engineering and con- struction industry. Other projects honored alongside the historic restoration in American Fork on December 8 include the LDS Provo City Center Temple and University of Utah Student Life Center. The building in American Fork was originally built in 1905, to house a bank established in 1891, the original Bank of American Fork. Thus, the building housed Amer- ican Fork’s first full-service professional bank. That bank was dissolved in the 1930’s. The current Bank of Amer- ican Fork was originally called People’s State Bank of American Fork and was housed down the street. People’s State Bank of American Fork changed its name to Bank of American Fork in the 1960’s. The building has remained standing, and since the original bank it housed closed in 1932, it has been the site of retail shops and offices. In 1993 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and a plaque on the exterior notes the history and style of the building. “Neo-classical in style, the construction is of iron oxide bricks with wood columns, ionic and composite capitals, arches with limestone keystones, entablature sills, brackets and extensive ornamental pressed metal trim. The original Bank of American Fork building here has retained most of its original fabric and is a significant example of historic commercial architecture. Its presence along Main Street recalls the economic vitality of the early twentieth centu- ry.” People’s Utah Bancorp, the parent company of current Bank of American Fork, purchased the building in 2014 and spent much of 2014 and 2015 restoring the building. 1 East Main Street is the new headquarters of People’s Utah Bancorp and a grand opening was held for the community in July 2015. “We wanted to restore it to recall that economic vitality of American Fork Main Street,” said Richard Beard, presi- dent and CEO of People’s Utah Bancorp. “It’s a beautiful building and example of the history of the economic infra- structure of American Fork. The original bank it housed was committed to the community and we are committed to the community and to the economy of American Fork’s Main Street.” CRSA was the architectural firm used to restore the building and Big-D Construction did the demolition and construction. Restoring a historical building has unique challenges compared to a new building. “The biggest challenge with a restoration is that you need to maintain the look of the building while bringing it up to current code,” said Geoff Bird, project manager at Big-D Construction. “There were a lot of existing conditions that we couldn’t really see until during the demolition process. Everybody is aware of how to deal with today’s construc- tion materials, but trying to harmonize the old and the new is always a challenge.” Bird worked with People’s Utah Bancorp’s project team, Brian Thompson and Dale Gunther, as they slowly uncov- ered bits of history inside the building. Bird mentioned Bank Kudos The front of the newly-restored historic building at 1 East Main Street in American Fork. The original clock was also restored to working order. The original ceiling was uncovered during demolition and later, careful- ly hand painted.