Restoration Of Historic Building

By CHERYL JENSEN

The Progress

It was project day last weekend at the historic Relief Society House in Mesquite. A crew of local volunteers showed up at the old building on Yucca Street on Saturday, March 18 to help with the ongoing restoration project.

The house was built in 1928-29. At that time, funds to build the house were raised by the ladies of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The women grew cotton, took it to the mill in St. George and traded it for fabric. Then they made quilts to sell in Las Vegas.

At Saturday’s event, the ladies and girls present were busily removing the handles on the drawers, scarping and removing paint. Men volunteers were moving the wheelbarrows of old linoleum and were repairing the floor near the building’s old fireplace.

“The spacious room is very unusual for a room in the early pioneer days, “said Wes Carter. “The building was dedicated in April and our plans are to rededicate it next April when restoration will be complete and landscaping added. It is hoped that this can be a meeting room for many occasions.”

The pine flooring in the building is tongue and grove and it will be sanded and refinished. The walls are made of gypsum board with plaster and the ceiling has coved edges where it meets the walls. The two large arches were engineered with triple trusses in the attic and were probably constructed by Von Toble Lumber in Las Vegas. The walls have a stencil trim around the top and will be duplicated when the walls get new paint.

The original structure included baptismal font in the back room under the floor. This will be restored to the same measurements.
“There was not a crack in the old cement, but we couldn’t move it,” stated Carter.

The first room built was the kitchen with lathe walls covered in stucco and linoleum flooring. The subfloor will be replaced with new plywood and then covered in linoleum. There was a sink in there but no running water. The cupboards will be sanded, repainted and replaced in the kitchen. They were built by Walter Hughes who did a lot of carpentry for homes in that era.

A Pioneer Dutch Oven Dinner fundraiser is planned for Friday April 14, from 6 – 8 pm at the Heritage Park, 121 Whipple Way. Uncle Wes’ chicken, chuck wagon potatoes, garden salad, harvest rolls and apple brown betty is the scrumptious menu planned for that event.

Monthly project days are planned in restoring the old building. April 15 is set as the next work day at the building. The community is invited to come and help – all tools and supplies are provided.