Lehi Memorial Building

The idea came fast — just five weeks after the WWI armistice, a Lehi man proposed a memorial building for the town's soldiers, sailors, and marines. What rose was ambitious: a single three-part structure by architects Ware and Treganza, joining a memorial hall in the center, a city hall on the south, and a Carnegie-funded library on the north. The library opened first, in 1921; the $55,000 memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day 1926. It bundled a town's civic heart and its war memory under one long roof.

What the plaque says

W.A. Knight first raised the idea of a Lehi Soldier’s, Sailor’s and Marine’s Memorial Building five weeks after Armistice Day (11 November 1918). Architects Walter E. Ware and Alberto O. Treganza, under the direction of Mayor Sydney Gilchrist, designed the three section structure to incorporate a memorial hall (center), a City Hall (south) and a Carnage Library (north). The Library was dedicated on 30 December 1921 during Mayor James H. Gardner’s administration. The remainder of the building was completed during the administration of Mayor Joseph S. Broadbend. Dedication services for the $55,000 center, the first municipal facility in America erected to the memory of World War I Veterans, were held on Memorial Day, 31 May 1926. Since then the building has hosted numerous civic, community and religious functions including the W.P.A., Alpine School District, the Lehi 2nd Ward, the Lehi 5th Ward, American Red Cross, Alpine Soil Conservation District, the Ground Observation Corps, the National Rifle Association, the Lehi Junior Wildlife Association, the Lehi National Guard, the Lehi Senior Citizens Center, and Lehi American Legion Post 19. The municipal part of the building has housed City Hall, two jails, a fire station, the Lehi Ambulance Association, and the Lehi Police Department. The Memorial Building, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is currently being restored as the future home of the John Hutchings Museum.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lehi Roller Mills — steps away
  The flour mill from the movie Footloose
• Thanksgiving Point — 5.3 mi
  A massive complex with dinosaur bones, gardens, and a curiosity museum
• Timpanogos Cave National Monument — 8.2 mi
  Three spectacularly decorated caves connected by hand-carved tunnels
• Alpine Loop Summit — 12 mi
  The 8,000-foot high point of the Alpine Loop, face to face with Mount Timpanogos

More markers nearby

• Lehi City Hutchings Museum Veterans Memorial Foyer — steps away
• Lehi Veterans Memorial Building — steps away
• John Austin Cabin — steps away
• Fort Wall & Lehi Pioneers (4) Markers — steps away