[delts145]

Southern Metro - Lehi - Hutchings Museum Expansion Presented to City Council

Lehi Free Press - Skylar Beltran - https://www.lehifreepress.com/2019/0...-city-council/

... The Lehi City Council was presented with an initial plan for expansion of the Hutchings Museum in Downtown Lehi. The plan was presented by Daniela Larsen, Museum Executive Director and Dave Harris, a contracted urban planner. The presentation offered three expansion options that included a “U” shape, “L” shape and straight bar design around the existing museum building. All three options included modern architecture to contrast and offer a focal point for the historic Memorial building in which the museum is currently housed. Mayor Mark Johnson commented on the contrasting design, “I actually like the modern design, I get the contrast idea, and I’ve seen it be used elsewhere very effectively.”

The idea to expand the museum comes from a desire to grow the offerings at the Hutchings Museum. “We are working on becoming an accredited museum and we need to have certain ceiling heights and other [logistical] things,” said Larsen. The proposed three-story addition would include 70,000 square feet of museum and storage space with the first-floor ceilings at 20 feet high and the second and third floors at 16 feet.

Harris provided the Council with Brooks International’s “20 Ingredients of an Outstanding Downtown,” to suggest what would be needed to create a sustainable area for Lehi. The list included things like a plan, mixed-use buildings, anchor tenants, parking, restrooms, restaurants, and year-round activities. With the expansion presented, Hutchings Museum would be a strong anchor for Lehi’s Downtown area, but the City Council acknowledged other main ingredients are missing. Councilwoman Paige Albrecht said, “I think even without this plan, we are to the point where we need to really consider a parking structure of some kind.” Albrecht’s concern about parking received agreement from the rest of the Council.

At the conclusion of the presentation, Larsen asked the Council, “Where do we go from here?” The City Council offered support for the museum expansion plans including the modern building design, with a preference for the straight bar rendering to highlight the current historic building. Mayor Johnson finished the conversation by asking Larsen and Harris to continue working with City staff on finding a downtown parking garage location.

...The museum started in 1955 when John Hutchings together with his wife Eunice made a donation to the establishment. Items such as minerals, rocks, shells, fossils, eggs, stuffed birds, pioneer items and Native American artefacts were all given away here. The collection of items continues to grow until today as friends of John Hutchings donate them in kind...

...There are interactive exhibits being offered where people can experience firsthand while attentive interns guide visitors all the while. For those majoring in Archeology, Anthropology, Geology, Paleontology, Biology or History, you can also apply for an internship at the museum. The interns are the ones who will provide the educational tours, market the exhibits, catalog artifacts, guide visitors and much more.

There are six rooms in the John Hutchings Museum, namely:

The Fossil and Shell Room – Samplings of what the museum has to offer include dinosaur bones, coprolite, a molar and a piece from a Wooly Mammoth’s tusk. A wide variety of corals, shells, sea urchins and other South Sea artifacts can be seen here including native hunting and living amenities.

The Bird and Egg Room – This section offers one of the finest collections of bird eggs in Utah. There are trays and cases of more than 400 clutches of Utah County bird eggs while mounted specimens of birds and animals are also on active display in the collection.

Rock and Mineral Room – This area houses minerals which contains hundreds of specimens. Gems such as opals, garnets, topaz, tourmalines, sapphires, amethyst, turquoise, beryl, kunzite and Herkimer diamonds can be viewed here.

Wild West Room – Lehi was a place where violent murders, gambling dens and growing speakeasies happened. In 1930, the first ever jail was built in the town and was subsequently moved to its present location by the year 1957. The jail was in use until the early 1980s. People visiting John Hutchings Museum of Natural History can explore this interactive exhibit, being able to shut themselves away.

Native American Room – This area features spear points, arrows, flaking tools, hide scrapers, bead drills and knives of the Native American people. You can also find red and grass baskets including clay pots on display here.

Pioneer Room – Finally we have the Pioneer room where visitors can check out the primitive tools used by the adventurers and explorers many years ago. There are also log cabin homes here including service pieces and glassware that are on display. School slates, stoves, stage coach foot warmers and candle snuffers can also be expected. What makes this place even better is the display of firearms that were used by the Pioneers.

.