Centennial House, formerly known as the Durkin Boarding House, was an important housing source during Park City’s mining era and early skiing days. But the historic building at 176 Main Street has stood vacant for more than two decades.
In that time, the building had become uninhabitable and was condemned in 2007 for safety reasons.
In June, Park City’s Historic Preservation Board approved a plan to bring the 124-year-old building back to life. Local builder Pete Olson and his company PJ Builders are doing the work.
“The plan was to remove the historic siding and historic elements off the outside, and then to demo the whole building,” Olson said. “Then we'll replicate it so we're going to build it back in exactly the same spot, the same dimensions.”
Olson said the demolition was necessary as much of the interior was unsalvageable due to mold, water damage, and other issues. The teardown will be completed next week.
But the work won’t stop there. Olson said construction is expected to continue through the winter. Once the old building is removed, the project will proceed much like new construction, with all new plumbing and electrical systems.
Throughout construction, there will also likely be traffic impacts on upper Main Street.
“We're trying to mitigate that as much as possible, but yeah, being that Main Street is barely a lane wide in front of the Centennial Building, that's going to be one of our big challenges,” Olson said.
The project is expected to be completed in around 18 months.
Once finished, the house will have six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a one-car garage on the side of the building.
