Pub. 1 2020-2021 Issue 1

21 building’s roof collapsed, and to mitigate the “fragile dominoes poised and ready to topple,” Lehi City authorized the demolition of it and two other historic buildings, Price’s market and the Lehi Hospital (on State Street), all of which Lehi City owned. Lehi seems eager to rid itself of its “fragile dominoes” along Main Street. After Porter’s Place closed and relocated to Eureka, the city-owned building sat vacant for a year until it was demolished just in the last couple of months to make way for new development. The city deemed the building unsalvageable and too costly to repair. As of 1998, when the “Lehi Main Street Historic District” was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, there were 21 buildings that still maintained historical integrity. Two historic buildings had lost their integrity, and seven buildings were built too recently to be included. As a side note, the district did not include the south side Main Street between Center Street and 100 West. Currently, of the original 21, 19 remain, although some of these have since lost their integrity. New development filling in the missing teeth needs to be closely considered. Is it better than what was there? In the place of “Porter’s,” a 3-story medium density mixed-use building will be constructed that wraps the corner and marches up Center Street. It will be the tallest building on Main Street. Although the preliminary design attempts to “break up” the long façade, it will dwarf the adjacent buildings, not only in height but also in its massing. In an effort to fit it into what residents refer to as the “quaint character of Main Street,” it has been adorned with faux “historic” accoutrements. This does not, however, adequately hide its massive scale. The quaintness that is so desired is being pushed out by the unprecedented larger scale building. The scale and texture of main street has always been successful because of what is referred to as “Older, Smaller, Better” buildings. “Older, Smaller, Better” was a phrase coined by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The resulting report, produced in 2014, demonstrated quantitative measures of how the “Older, Smaller, Better” buildings and blocks of our towns influence urban vitality. In brief, the report found that areas with “Older, Smaller” buildings are more walkable, attract younger people, are more affordable and flexible for entrepreneurs, appeal to the creative economy, and bolster the local economy and support a more diverse demographic. In another missing tooth, the city endeavored to create urban open space, with an infill “pocket” park nudged into one of these tight spaces between two historic buildings. It has some landscaping and a bench, but it’s unlikely anyone has lingered here other than to pass through to the parking on the north. Its function is dubious as the block only has a 400-foot street face and is only one of two downtown blocks that make up the main street commercial core.  — continued on page 22