Saturday, December 31, 2011

Eccles & anonymous donor move fund-raising over half-way mark


The Oneida Stake Academy in 1917.
 The board of the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation was notified of $200,000 in grants just before Christmas. Half of it came from an anonymous alumni and the other half from the George S. and Dolores DorĂ© Eccles Foundation.
“Wow, what a thrill,” said OSAF chairman, Nathan Hale. “We are very excited and very grateful for the generosity of the kind people behind these donations.”
            These funds bring the total of funds raised in 2011 to $620,000. Of that amount $505,000 is in cash and $115,000 is in-kind donations.
            “We are over half-way to the finish line,” said Hale. Another $2.9 million is expected to be needed to complete the academy’s restoration as a community center/ museum of local history.
Following direction from the board’s architect, Joseph Linton, and construction expert, Ed Moser, the board will meet in January to decide which phase of the academy’s restoration will be completed next.
Meanwhile, Keith Mackay of State Stone and his craftsmen continue to prepare the building to receive a new stone gable next month. This gable replaces one that fell out of the building in the 1960s. It is being built into a metal frame by Kepco, an engineering company located in Salt Lake City.

The following link takes you to an article published Dec. 30, 2011, by the Herald Journal in Logan, Utah, regarding this donation.
Herald Journal

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Update - New rock placed above front windows

New blocks of stone sit above the Oneida Stake Academy's front windows, in preparation for the new gable which will be installed at the first of 2012.  In addition, new blocks cut from stone taken from the academy's original quarry, have replaced highly deteriorated stone. As funds are raised, craftsmen from State Stone of Salt Lake City, Utah, will replace all severely deteriorated stone on the building, such as those at the bottom left of this picture.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Update - Weather damaged rock cut away for new gable

 A close-up of the first steps to replacing the long- lost stone gable, shows where severely weather-damaged rock was cut away by craftsmen at State Stone of Salt Lake City. They will fill this space with new blocks of stone anchored to the existing building by stainless steel rods.
Over the last six months, craftsmen of State Stone have carved individual rocks for the gable by following historic photos of the academy and using a few of the original stones salvaged from the earthquake by the late Newell and Ruth Hart as guides. Kepco engineers have designed a three-paneled steel frame into which each numbered stone is being placed. This rock-filled frame will be lifted into place and a final application of historic mortar will be applied between the rock, said Mackay.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Update - Gable to be restored

          Thanks to generous individuals, the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation is able to replace the academy's front gable, which has been covered by a wooden facade for the last 49 years. The building's original stone gable fell from the building during an earthquake.
           To see an example of the process being utilized to restore the gable, see the following link: KEPCO
            According to Keith Mackay, owner of State Stone, the process being used to restore the gable is the same process used in the construction of the current Nauvoo Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to repair the Utah State Capitol building.
            Over the last six months, craftsmen of State Stone have carved individual rocks for the gable by following historic photos of the academy and using a few of the original stones salvaged from the earthquake by the late Newell and Ruth Hart as guides. Kepco engineers have designed a steel frame into which each numbered stone is being placed. This rock-filled frame will be lifted into place and a final application of historic mortar will be applied between the rock, said Mackay.
Once the gable is in place, roofing, which began last fall, will be completed, said OSAF board member, Ed Moser. The restored gable will feature an ornament that hasn’t been seen on the academy for generations. Carved stars once crowned each of the gables, and the installation of this newly restored gable includes a star for the front of the building.
            “We are so very excited to see this part of the building put into place,” said Moser.
            The improvements made to the academy’s restoration this year have been funded by gifts from the family of an anonymous alumni, the Murdock Charitable Trust, the Idaho Transportation Department’s Scenic Byways Program, Jim Gilmur, Nathan S. Hale and dozens of individual donors this year, said Elliott Larsen, executive director of the OSAF.
            With this step completed, restoration efforts will turn back to the inside of the building, where walls and floors will be reinforced to stand another century of service.
            Fund-raising efforts are in full swing in order to help the OSAF complete the restoration project by the summer of 2013 in honor of the 100th birthday of Franklin County, said fundraising chair, Saundra Hubbard.
            All donations to the restoration of the Oneida Stake Academy building are tax-deductible, as the foundation is registered with the IRS as a non-profit entity. To help with the academy’s restoration as a community center and museum of local history, contribution can be sent to the OSAF at P.O. Box 555, Preston, Idaho, 83263, or by making a contribution online on this blog or at www.oneidastakeacademy.org.