On Tuesday night, the Malad City Mayor and council members held a special meeting to consult with architects from Myers Anderson, an architectural firm located in Pocatello that specializes in historic buildings.

Richard Creason, the principal architect and Latecia Herzog, architect, were called in to help with the project by Jerry Myers, the owner of the firm, who has since retired. Myers will continue to act as a consultant on the project.

In October of 2018, the Malad City Council approved the purchase of the historic building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, from the Don Evans family. The building started as a one-room log house facing Main Street in 1865 and was later formed into a cooperative, becoming a branch of Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI). It was enlarged three times. In 1892, a red brick building was built in an “L” shape around the original building, and in 1903 the Main Street building was expanded, and the log building was torn down. In 1907, the “flat iron” building was built to fill the block.

Creason explained to the council that many people believe that it is not a wise decision to try to preserve old buildings. However, he disagrees, indicating that these old buildings were built to last. They may require a sizeable initial investment, but in the long run he believes that they are less expensive. Herzog said that in those areas that are tearing down their old buildings, they are being replaced with buildings that will only last for 30 to 40 years. 

Mayor Joan Hawkins met with Jerry Myers, Creason and Herzog in early February where she provided information for the formation of plans that were presented to the council during this meeting. The plans included the basement, which would be used for storage; the main floor, which would provide for the city clerk’s office, restrooms and areas for commercial lease; and the upper floor that would include the city council chambers, a public meeting room and commercial lease space. Initially the council had planned that the entire main floor would be for city offices and council chambers. Because of the layout of the building and the pillars on the main floor, Herzog explained that a better plan would be for the council chambers to be on the upper floor. This will require that the space that contains an old freight elevator be used for a modern elevator. The portions made available for lease on the main and upper floors, will provide funds to maintain the building.

Also initially, the council had determined that the first phase of renovating the building would be confined to the main floor. However, Herzog told the council that is not a wise decision. The entire building should be considered in the renovation so that renovations that are initially made are not torn out to accommodate additional renovations on the upper floor.

The council pointed out some minor changes they would like to see made in the plans, including restrooms added to the upper floor as well as the lower floor, and a hallway to extend through the entire building on the lower floor. In the council meeting to be held on Wednesday, March 9, the council will provide any additional changes they would like made in the plans. Creason and Herzog will then provide final plans, which can be made public. They assured the council that the final plans could be modified slightly afterwards as the project moves along to completion.

At the time the city receives a final set of plans, they will actively start pursuing grants. The city has had the roofs of both the hardware portion of the building and the main portion of the building replaced. With the help of Jean Thomas, they applied for and received a grant that repaired the foundation of the building. The mayor is currently in contact with a company in Salt Lake City that specializes in removing paint from old brick with plans to have the wood portions on the outside replaced and repaired and the outside of the building re-painted.