By Brad Fullmer
The completion of the Sprague Library restoration last April in Salt Lake’s Sugar House area is notable not only for the significance of it being a nearly 100-year-old structure but also for the fact that the construction was performed by Paulsen Construction, a Salt Lake-based general contractor that built the original library in 1928.
President/CEO John Paulsen is the great-grandson of founder Paul Paulsen, who emigrated to Utah from the Norwegian Lofoten Islands in 1909. He worked for Morrison-Merrill Lumber Co. in Salt Lake for 15-plus years before founding the firm that still bears his name 97 years later.
Paulsen admitted he and his employees felt an immense sense of pride in successfully completing the complex project, especially given the historical impact of the library and its importance to the local community.
“There was a lot of motivation within our firm to do this project,” said Paulsen. “In this city, 100-year-old buildings are just torn down. The library has been such an iconic piece of Salt Lake City. To be a part of this project, knowing it will be around for another 100 years […] it was definitely sentimental that a previous family member built it.”
At a cost of $3.8-million, the two-level, 34,500-SF library—which is on the National Register of Historic Places—saw its interior spaces transformed into a more modern-style library. While the interiors were updated, the beautiful, high-gabled, English Tudor-style exterior remained virtually the same. In 1935,it was selected by the American Library Association as the “Most Beautiful Library in America,” so the stakes were high for designers and contractors in preserving and improving the iconic structure.
“It was about being able to have the connection to the culture, the history, the people who designed and constructed that building, and [those] who used it for almost 100 years,” said Mihnea Dobre, Project Architect for Salt Lake-based Arch Nexus. “At the same time, [we wanted] to make it a modern, useable space that people can be inspired by and create memories. It was very inspiring and rewarding to preserve that history and make it something of today that is productive in bringing the community together.”
“I’m very proud of the projects we do as a company, in taking something old and giving it new life and new meaning, or at least a renewed appreciation within its place within its localized culture,” said Brian Cassil, Marketing Director for Arch Nexus. “People, generally, really love history […] and buildings that are emblematic of history that can be expressed through architecture. Sprague Library is an excellent example of that.”
Flood Expedites Renovation
While Sprague Library’s restoration needs had been on the Salt Lake City Public Library (SLCPL) system’s radar for several years, a significant flood in July 2017 moved it up on the priority list. The flood caused five feet of water to seep into the lower-level basement, inflicting considerable damage to areas which housed the children’s and teen’s collections, a large public meeting room, as well staff spaces, according to Deborah Ehrman, SLCPL Interim Director.
“We had done an analysis of the space and knew Sprague would need to have renovation work within five years, but we moved it up on our timeline and funded it with essentially funds we had on hand,” said Ehrman. During the demolition phase, Ehrman and other SLCPL executives were allowed to see aspects of the original construction up close, a process she described as fascinating, particularly given that Paulsen Construction had built the original library.
“It was a lot of fun, actually, to know John’s great-grandfather was involved in the original [construction],” Ehrman said. What fascinated her most was “when we took the building apart and looked at how masonry was done back in the day, or the wood framing. […] It was like an art form of construction, and it challenged us from a renovation perspective in how it might impact the overall project. It was interesting seeing how to meld 1928 construction with modern-day construction. Our facilities manager and team worked closely with John [Paulsen]’s team and the architects to find those solutions.”
Paulsen said his team had to be vigilant with site water mitigation throughout construction. The team also had to navigate through tricky existing utilities, including installing a new, more powerful generator that keeps two subterranean pumps operating around the clock.
Paying Homage to the Past
The renovation brings a renewed, fresh feel to this landmark building while maintaining an appropriate historical feel. A fresh palette of color emphasizes Sugar House’s historical motifs that pay homage to the history of the area. The modern look and new design elements help to enhance library spaces while creating a more energy-efficient building envelope for the 95-year-old building.
In terms of design innovations, the way colors and shape move throughout the building is truly innovative, continuing to tie it to other historical Sugar House buildings and businesses such as the Granite Furniture Sputnik, Snelgrove Ice Cream, and Nu Crisp Popcorn, maintaining the classic sugar beet iconography. Custom light fixtures in the main part of the library complement the historic volumes. The “tween space” downstairs has a wall covered by a special moss that continues to grow with very little maintenance. What once was a dismal hallway now has upside-down trees that invoke a child’s imagination, with natural light spilling in through the ceiling.
The ability to allow complementary elements, both new and old, to exist in the same space provides the opportunity for something unique and inspiring. In addition, the library’s flexibility and adaptability to meet program and community needs is a hallmark, with movable furniture, transformable spaces, and careful planning to help ensure end-user needs are met.
“It’s a careful balancing act,”said Cassil of designing functional, aesthetically-pleasing, modern spaces into a historic building. “There is this modern approach to space planning, with careful attention to helping everyone feel welcome. […] It’s a very modern library in terms of amenities and space planning, but done in a way that the design pays homage to the Art Deco era—visual elements that pay tribute to the original design of the building.”
Margaret Sullivan, Owner of New York-based Margaret Sullivan Studio, served as a design consultant and said the team’s intention was to “honor existing characteristics of the main level and qualities of the 1920s, and respect the wonderful character of that Tudor-style quaintness, but also bring in the history of the community and the maker space. It’s a unique community and a growing neighborhood, so it was important to tie in the lineage of the overall history and the finishes.”
“Libraries are places for communities to come together and build connections with each other,” Sullivan added. “They don’t have to be storehouses for books. It’s allowed buildings to support early literacy initiatives, to having festivals in libraries that celebrate different ethnicities, and have fun, family-centric activities, and developing maker programs around digital literacy.”
Aspects of construction work had to be meticulously performed to meet the level of quality of the historic building. New double-pane windows had to be reconstructed in the historical nature of wood and glass to match the nationally-historic building while providing much better energy efficiency. Wood casework was carefully crafted, and inlaid carpets of sugar beets were custom made by hand just for this project, as were custom sugar beet stair railing elements.
Crews also had to remove a historic chimney, reinforce it to meet current seismic codes, then painstakingly rebuild it using the same bricks to maintain its timeless, historic features. Other structural modifications and improvements were critical aspects of the building’s integrity and durability.
“One of the challenges with historical work—and we do a fair amount of it—is we just don’t have in our industry the traditional building skills of the past,” Paulsen emphasized. “Intricate brick masonry, timber framing, things made by hand—finding those kinds of craftsmen today is almost impossible.”
“Finding traditional building craftsmen was a challenge in itself,” Paulsen continued. “Most local guys are on the [Salt Lake] Temple [restoration]. The skill [required] on an old building is so precise. Poor quality didn’t exist. Buildings built 100 years ago were done using exemplary techniques.”
Paulsen added that this is only the second project he personally has helped restore in Salt Lake that was originally built by Paul; the other was a restoration of a house on “A” Street in the Avenues that was owned by George Q. Cannon’s daughter.
“It’s something I’m super proud of,” he concluded. “It’s not a big project, it’s not towering above the skylines of the Wasatch, but it’ll definitely be around for 100 more years. There are not a lot of buildings we can say that about.”
Owner: Salt Lake City Public Libraries
Architect: Architectural Nexus
General Contractor: Paulsen Construction
Civil Engineer: Meridian Engineering, Inc.
Electrical Engineer: BNA Consulting
Mechanical Engineer: Colvin Engineering
Structural Engineer: Dunn Associates, Inc.
Plumbing: Robert W. Speirs Plumbing
Electrical: Lucky W Electrical
Concrete: Paulsen Construction
Steel Fabrication: The ArtistWelder
Steel Erection: Fusion Metal Works
Masonry: Abstract Masonry
Drywall: BK Drywall
Painting: Hendricksen Painting, Inc.
Tile/Stone: Hunter Ridge Tile
Carpentry: Artistic Mill
Flooring: Design Team
Roofing: GKC Roofing
Excavation: Utah Tile and Roofing
Demolition: Red Rock Demolition
Precast: Brailsford Cast Stone Inc.