Iconic building gets toasted

The “golden toaster,” an iconic church building which is part of Utah State University property, was demolished last week.

Given its nickname for its unique shape and color, the church located at 650 N. 1200 East was part of a verbal land exchange between the university and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2011. In turn the university agreed to give the Church a vacant trailer park on the outer edge of campus.

David Cowley, vice president for business and finance at USU, said there are no plans for a new building on the property.

“Taking down the building was required by the LDS church as a condition of USU acquiring the property,” Cowley said in an email to The Utah Statesman. “Since we have no immediate plans for a new facility, we plan to restore the site to an attractive grassy area until it is needed for campus expansion. That will likely be several years down the road.”

According to Special Collections and Archives at USU, the church was built between 1960 and 1961.

— manda.perkins@hotmail.com

Twitter: @perkins_manda