Utah Heritage Credit Union to get new building in Ephraim
Suzanne Dean
Publisher
5-11-2017
EPHRAIM—Utah Heritage Credit Union has started on a project that will culminate in a new building on Main Street in Ephraim.
“It’s something Utah Heritage has been looking forward to for many years,” said Donald Watson, CEO of the credit union.
The credit union started planning for the new building and setting aside funding before Ilene Rollo, long-time CEO, retired in 2013, Watson said.
“The board of directors was the key,” Greg Sterner, vice president for mortgage and business lending, added. “They were the ones who made the decision.”
Members of the board include Susan Larsen (Ephraim), Jeff Anderson (Manti), Claude Pickett (Ephraim), Cody Beck (Mt. Pleasant) and Branch Cox (Fairview). Final steps toward the new building began last fall when the credit union hired Kevin Madsen and Associates of Provo, the same architectural firm that designed the new Fairview City Hall and Cleone Eccles Library.
The Ephraim branch has been housed in two older homes. The home on the south has housed the loan department while the one on the north has housed member services, including tellers.
Most of the loan staff has moved to the north building. Last week, the south building was demolished. The new building will be built on the south end of the property where the south house was demolished.
Once the new building is finished, Watson said, all Ephraim staff will move in. Then the north building will be demolished and a parking lot completed in its place. The branch will remain open throughout construction.
The general contractor is Landmark Construction of Logan, but Todd Alder of Ephraim, owner of Todd Alder Construction, will be the construction superintendent, and most of the subcontractors will be from Sanpete County.
According to Watson, the new building will have 3,840 square feet on the ground level, with 2,990 square feet in the basement. The basement won’t be occupied at first but will be available for expansion.
The building exterior will be a mix of stucco, brick and stone. The main entrances will be on the north and south sides of the building. A three-lane drive-through will be at the rear of the building.
Perhaps the dominant feature will be arched windows on the Main Street frontage of the building. The windows will extend from near ground level almost to the top of the structure.
Inside, the new building will have five offices and four teller stations, including two stations able to serve drive-through customers.
“It will offer all the services of a full-service financial institution” under one roof, everything from mortgage and construction loans, small business and agriculture loans, to loans for new and used autos, ATVs, Watson said.
Other services will include recreational, personal and credit card loans; savings, checking, IRAs and CDs.
The credit union CEO said his organization “did everything physically possible” to maintain the older homes. But both were deteriorating. “Both homes, got to where the foundations were crumbling and major roof repair was needed,” he said.
“We’re excited to be able to add a new building to the Ephraim Main Street,” Sterner said.
The credit union started in 1969 with 23 members and headquarters in Moroni. It was called Moroni Feed Credit Union and primarily served employees of Moroni Feed Co.
Its first branch was the Ephraim Branch, which opened in 1999. The Gunnison Branch opened in 2004 and the Mt. Pleasant Branch in 2008.
In 2009, the operation changed its name to Utah Heritage Credit Union, reflecting the fact that it had become a community-based credit union serving a much broader population than Moroni Feed employees. Today, it has 7,800 members and $63 million in assets.
“We’d just like to thank the local members for their support over 48 years to enable us to grow in this community,” Watson said.
