LOGAN, Utah — An old Sinclair gas station building in Logan, Utah, is being restored to look as it was when first constructed in 1955. The building, located at 96 E. Center St., will then be used as the new location for a local flower shop.
Ardent Management is the company that bought and is restoring the building. Lexi Johnson, who works for the company, said Ardent does a lot of historical rehabilitation.
“We do like to do the historic rehabilitation projects just because it’s fun just to keep the historic buildings here, not torn down,” Johnson said. “And then just restore them to what they used to look like.
"I would say that historic rehabilitation projects are something that we do focus on with our company.”
Ardent Management is the company that restored the Sinclair building in River Heights as well. Johnson said the positive response to that restoration is part of why they decided to restore this one as well.
“It turned out pretty cute, the community really has liked it, and it’s been a good addition to restore it and keep some of the history there,” Johnson said. “We found that this one was also a historic Sinclair station, so we decided to move forward with purchasing the building and then restoring it as well.”
Johnson said that the restoration process is expected to be finished quickly. After that, a local floral shop will move into the building as their main location. The company, Meraki Floral Co., currently is located at 22 E. Center St.
“We’ve been here for four and a half years, and we have just expanded and are needing a little bit more space,” Haily Larsen, the owner of Meraki Floral Co. said. “This place has been on my radar for years and I just love it so much. We’re making the move to a bigger place with more parking and we’re super excited.”
Meraki Floral Co. offers products such as flower arrangements, plants, retail and gift boxes. They also offer delivery. Larsen said she chose the remodeled Sinclair building as their new location because of its historical value.
“I am all about a building with soul," she said. "I feel like the current place we’re in has some history and I just want to carry that on. I don’t want to just be in a brand new building, the soul and integrity of the old buildings here in Logan are super important to me.”
Larsen said that the expected date for Meraki Floral Co. to be operating out of the new building is March 1, 2024.
Johnson said that she thinks that a flower shop is a good business to move into the building, once it is finished being restored.
“We thought a flower shop would be really cute in that building, plus a good addition to the neighborhood,” Johnson said. “She is just down the street currently, so she’s staying in the same neighborhood, and we just think that that’s going to be a good use for the building.”
Johnson said that when restoring the building, they tried to keep as much of it the same as the original building as possible. While new electrical and mechanical systems had to be installed, details such as the original tiling in the bathrooms were restored so that they could be kept the same.
Another detail that was restored to the original look was the neon Sinclair sign outside of the building. Johnson said the business that occupied the building before Ardent Management purchased it found the original neon sign while redoing their own.
“They were redoing their sign, and they located that neon sign behind their sign,” Johnson said. “So we actually were able to take that sign off and we sent it down to Brimley Neon in Salt Lake and they restored the neon on it and then when that was finished, they came back up here and installed it. So that’s the original sign.”
Johnson said that she believes restoring historic buildings is important because once they are gone, they are gone for good.
“We can never get those back once they’re gone, and it’s a part of our history and I think it’s important that we keep those,” Johnson said. “A lot of the old buildings do get torn down, so I think it’s important that we do try to keep some of them so that we can always have that history around. Probably for the next 100 years it will stay standing and it will be in good shape.”