ARCH’S MULTICULTURAL CENTER
During 2004-5 ARCH restored a forgotten Carnegie library to create a MultiCultural Center for the city of Provo, Utah. This central Utah city, proud of being “the most conservative city in the US,” has long been home to a very diverse international population. Today, with several institutions of higher learning, major medical and technological centers, and a growing international business sector, a huge global influx continues.

The original library was provided to the community in 1907 by the railroad magnate turned philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, and in 1939 the structure was beautifully rebuilt as a civic development architectural project of the Public Works Administration (PWA), in the Art-Deco style.

As part of ARCH’s restoration work, the grand entry was transformed into an Art-Deco-style multi-media mural, commemorating the full range of peoples, industries, and global/cultural cross-influences that contributed to the success of the local city and state. The full history of the area, from dinosaurs to modern technology was vividly depicted. Throughout the meeting rooms, classrooms and hallways of the restored library, original folk crafts and artworks of peoples of the world, relevant to the area, were displayed. ARCH’s signature educational exhibit “Against Historic Amnesia” was installed in the original library’s huge reading room.