Council tentatively approves Louie’s relocation
Finances needed before final approval
"I think in all fairness to the people who are here we should
find a way to make the East Avenue location work. I know I’m changing my
position."
Ketchum Mayor Guy Coles, on saving the city’s
historic Congregational Church
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
Ketchum’s
old Congregational Church has been sitting on the city’s park & ride lot for the
past nine months. Finally, the Ketchum City Council voted Monday to move the building to a
site on the south end of East Avenue. The sign, "Works In Progress," was posted
by the Ketchum historical society. Express photo by Willy Cook
The Ketchum City Council unanimously voted Monday night in support of
moving Ketchum’s old Congregational Church—also formerly Louie’s
Restaurant—to a city-owned parcel of land at the south end of East Avenue.
There was a financial caveat, however—all of the funds needed to move
and restore the old building must be raised from private sources.
Faced with a throng of over two dozen residents in support of saving the
structure, Ketchum Mayor Guy Coles, who in recent weeks voiced opposition to saving the
building, apparently had a change of heart.
"I think in all fairness to the people who are here we should find a
way to make the East Avenue location work.
"I know I’m changing my position," he said.
The issue of relocating the historic 1880s church to a permanent home
comes nearly nine months after the building was moved from it’s original location at
the corner of Sun Valley Road and Leadville Avenue in downtown Ketchum to the city-owned
park & ride lot along Saddle Road.
The council pressured members of the Ketchum/Sun Valley Ski and Heritage
Museum to find a permanent location for the building this summer. Council members said
they were worried the church would sit on the park & ride lot indefinitely otherwise.
The East Avenue site is the first choice of historical society
representatives, who had three options in all.
The Forest Service Park and another park, called Little Park, which is
behind the Ore Wagon Museum, were the other two options.
The Committee for the Forest Service Park—an oversight committee for
the park—was adamantly against relocation to that site, however. They said the
park’s authenticity would be compromised with the addition of the church.
And Little Park, Ketchum city administrator Jim Jaquet said, is meant to
be preserved as open space.
Historical society president Dick Meyer, who is also an architect, drew up
preliminary plans of how the church might fit into the East Avenue lot.
There would be open space along the east and west sides of the church,
which would face north, up East Avenue. The 18 parking spaces that are on the site would
not be lost, Meyer pointed out.
"It would still be visible from downtown Ketchum and be part of the
core," he said.
Under the historical society’s East Avenue proposal, the city would
continue to own the land and also take over ownership of the building, but the historical
society would manage the church and provide for its upkeep.
The building would be restored to its historic state, Meyer said.
Long-time Ketchum resident Milli Wiggins told the council that the church
will likely become a Ketchum centerpiece.
"This will become an icon that’ll be on every calendar, on every
post card, and I think you’ll be glad you saved it," she said.
But money for restoring and relocating the church is another matter.
The council approved the move on the condition that the historical society
can show that the project is in good hands financially.
Preservationists donated $12,000, according to past historical society
president Floyd McCracken, to have the church moved and temporarily stored last November
just days before it was to be destroyed. He said private fund-raising efforts have yielded
another $18,000 to move and restore the building.
McCracken estimated that renovations will cost $50,000 to $100,000.
He tried to reassure the council by referring to the society’s
successful fund-raising efforts last fall.
"People drove down the street and gave me thumbs up. They
weren’t telling me I’m a great stockbroker. They were thanking me for saving
Louie’s," he said.
Even so, the council asked to see upcoming fund-raising efforts and
finances documented before the move receives final approval.
