A Salt Lake City developer wants to restore a Latter-day Saint landmark to its former glory.
The historic 114-year-old Fifth Ward meetinghouse at 740 S. 300 West was partially demolished over Easter weekend without city permission. Since then, the vacant property has sat among piles of decades-old bricks and downed trees, but its new owner, Skyler Baird, has plans to give the old building a new life.
On Thursday, the city’s Historic Landmark Commission unanimously approved Baird’s construction plan to restore the site to its original 1910 facade and transform the interior to accommodate a community center with transitional housing for Utahns coming out of addiction programs.
“It’s really nice to have you here; it’s really nice to see your renderings,” board member Adrienne White told Baird. “I’m grateful that we have a new owner who sees the beauty in this historic building and wants to give it a good life.”
The Easter wrecking ball claimed a 1937 brick addition to the building but left nearly all of the original structure intact. Baird’s plan calls for rebuilding the chapel’s original entryway.
Baird was not involved with the demolition, but when he heard there were potential buyers who wanted to tear down the chapel completely, he proposed a different vision to its owner.
“Over the past 10 years of owning rental properties, I’ve come in contact with a lot of people in our community that are struggling, people that are addicted to drugs, people that are homeless and the like,” Baird said. “And over the past 10 years or so, I’ve been able to help a number of those people get off the streets … and into permanent housing of their own.”
The property’s owner donated the building to Baird’s affordable housing nonprofit, Salt of the Earth, in an attempt to “make some amends,” Baird said during an Oct. 3 meeting of the Ballpark Community Council.
But Baird is still on the hook for fines that followed the illegal demolition. Since he took ownership of the site on July 29, he’s been fined about $300 a day for the building’s condition.
Baird said in October that he had submitted plans to reconstruct the building and stop the fines, but estimated the necessary city approvals and building permits wouldn’t come until December, leaving him with at least $20,000 in fees during that stretch alone.
He’s hopeful the fines would be waived or paused at some point during the process and has hosted community cleanups to get residents involved in the site’s restoration. Those cleanups have salvaged old bricks to be used in the future reconstruction.
“We’re trying to be as nice as possible to stay on the good side of everyone involved,” Baird said, “because I know they have rules for a reason, but I think most everyone can see that there’s a spirit and a letter of the law. And the spirit of the law is not to punish someone that’s trying to help.”
Nick Norris, the city’s planning director, said Baird will have to take up the fines with city enforcement officials after the building permits are in place. The permit process typically takes about three weeks.
The site was last used as a chapel for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1975, and has since hosted a martial arts school and punk rock performances. It has been vacant since 2019.
