New plan would dress up Pioneer Craft House

South Salt Lake » One of the oldest school houses in the Salt Lake Valley could get a new, spruced-up look.

 

Passers-by often miss the Pioneer Craft House, shrouded by towering trees and a chain-link fence, at the corner of 500 East and 3300 South.

 

But Wednesday, Salt Lake City architecture firm CRSA unveiled conceptual plans that would open the South Salt Lake campus to the surrounding neighborhood, creating a corner plaza, wheelchair-accessible paths and a circular driveway on 500 East.

 

The site has been used for education since 1847 and hosts the Victorian-style Scott School, built in 1890. The campus was the original site of Granite High School.

 

South Salt Lake and Salt Lake County, with the help of county Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) funds, purchased the craft house in 2007 and have about $250,000 remaining to spend on renovations.

 

Jim Davis, chairman of the Pioneer Craft House Board, estimates $1 million could be spent on all the improvements proposed. CRSA Senior Planner Susie Petheram told the South Salt Lake City Council on Wednesday that $250,000 to $500,000 could cover three initial phases, addressing key safety concerns and the overall appearance of the aging, five-building campus.

 

Davis said the nonprofit craft house, which provides arts and crafts classes at the school, plans to hire a grant writer to help secure additional funds. Original Article