Having renovated the historic structure, the owner of the Boyden Building in Coalville has put the North Summit landmark up for sale.
The building is at the corner of Center Street and Main Street.
“That building to me is the heart of Coalville. It’s the center of Main and it was one of the first buildings in Coalville,” Mayor Duane Schmidt said.
The owner, California resident Franklin Boyden, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars refurbishing the building, Schmidt said.
“[Boyden] is very emotionally attached to the building,” Schmidt said. “His great grandfather is the one who built the building It was his father’s and his grandfather’s.”
Schmidt said the building was “boarded up” when he was elected mayor about three years ago.
“[Boyden] just needs to find a great tenant for the city. It has unlimited potential,” the mayor said. “He would sell it if he felt like he got the right number and if not he is interested in leasing it out.”
The building, erected in 1906, became one of the first pharmacies in Utah. In 1907, members of the Boyden family opened a soda bar and began serving ice cream and soft drinks.
“It’s one of the nicest historical buildings in Coalville and it meant so much to the people who lived here,” Summit County Historical Director NaVee Vernon said. “You had a place to go and sit and have a Cherry Coke or malt or a sundae. It wasn’t just a place to get your prescription.”
The construction of the Boyden Building coincided with the first electricity brought to the North Summit area, according to Vernon. The building was said to be the first in Coalville that was wired for electricity.
Vernon said only a handful of historical buildings remain in town. Many artifacts from the building are displayed today in a museum in the Summit County Courthouse.
“It was always very well kept up,” Vernon said.
The original owner, John Boyden, was the first licensed pharmacist in Utah, she explained. Boyden was active in local politics and his pharmacy was a popular gathering place for people to debate.
“It’s been sad that it has been empty,” Vernon said. “I would love it to be a little coffee shop We’re lacking that little place where local people can go and visit.”
The Summit County Assessor’s Office has the market value of the Boyden Building and a small house behind the structure listed at about $556,590. The gross square footage of the building is about 7,595.