Oneida Stake Academy gets new HVAC System

After several months of work, an HVAC system has been installed in the Oneida Stake Academy building. This 135-year-old structure is being restored as a cultural center/museum of local history in Preston. It’s hand-hewn stones, tall-windows and stately bell-tower reflect the faith-filled endurance and foresight of the people who built Franklin and much of Southeast Idaho.

Efforts to restore the building have actually been in the process for half of its lifetime. Back in the late 1960s, Preston historian, Newell Hart recognized the significance of the academy building. He personally repaired, raised awareness and raised funds to preserve this alma mater of three world leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Harold B. Lee, Ezra Taft Benson and Richard Edgley), as well as several other general authorities of the Church: Joe J. Christensen, Betty Jo Jepsen, Spencer Condie, Lorenzo H. Hatch, and Mathew Cowley.

Hart’s efforts included gaining National Historic Register status for the academy building. He also realized the building stood as a memorial to the thousands of simply good people who passed through its doors, armed with skills that helped them build strong families and communities. Many generations of youth from a very large area once known as the Oneida Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gained solid educational footings within the walls of this building.

Hart rallied many “Friends of the Academy” who worked together to fund and restore the gothic, three-story rock edifice for future generations.

One couple who assisted in the effort at that time were Scott and Kris Beckstead, of Preston.

“We appreciated the old building, and the history behind it,” said Scott. Like most people in Franklin County, they have relatives who had attended classes in the building. Kris’ grandfather was on the school board years ago, and was mayor for a time.

The young couple enjoyed helping Hart and other “Friends of the Academy,” such as Stanton Hawkes and Duke Robinson, said Scott, and soon, the building became part of their own family’s traditions

“We lived very close to the academy at the time. On Christmas morning we would get up, open presents, then the kids and I would go over and ring the bell on Christmas morning while Kris was making breakfast,” he said. “We did that every Christmas morning for a lot of years and then for a few years we did it at midnight on New Year’s Eve.”

There was no rope, so they took hold of the clapper and swung it into the bell. “We’d stuff tissue paper in our ears because it was so loud,” recalled Scott.

In more recent years, the bell tower was fortified and refurbished, thanks to an Eagle Scout Project completed by Austin Stuart and his father, Roger. That phase was funded by the Daughters of the American Revolution and included a rope to the bell, and speakers through which a recording of the bell is scheduled to ring throughout the day.

The building was used by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers to showcase their artifacts, for a community art program headed by Donna Shipley and for other pubic events. Restoration efforts continued after Hart’s death in 1983, an when the Preston School Board again began talking about not heating the building and letting it go, Scott, as a trustee, voted to protect it from damage.

But without the fire in Newel Hart’s leadership, restoration efforts cooled until the torch was picked up in 2002 by Doug West and Joseph Linton. Their efforts resulted in a feasibility study that affirmed the structural integrity of the building, and that it could safely be moved out of the path of the wrecking ball. By then, the district’s trustees had determined that the building would be razed to make way for an addition to Preston High School to accommodate its growing student population.

Additional residents, led by PHS alum Kim Wilson and the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation over which he presided, rallied to the cause and convinced the school board to let the group “race” them to the deadline for when the building had to be out of the way. The group sought over $1 million dollars to hire a company out of Washington that was capable of actually moving the grand, 16-ton rock building to a new location.

Hundreds of local residents, who recognized the building’s value, gave what they could, but the goal seemed unattainable until the late Larry Miller and his wife, Gail, put $250,000 towards the effort. Their support was followed by other major donors, including the George S. and Deloroes Doré Eccles Foundation and a federal appropriation through Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson.

An hour before the Preston School district was to open and award a bid to raze the building, these new friends of the academy building secured the funds needed to sign a contract with Lindsay Moving to relocate the building to Benson Park on a lot deeded to the “friends” for that purpose by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Wilson guided the “friends” into formally organizing the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation as a 501©3 non-profit organization, as Peter Friesen, the respected mover of the Cape Hatteras Light House in North Carolina, engineered the academy’s historic relocation.

After months of preparing the building to safely move down the streets of Preston, supporters cheered the night the building was first turned off its original foundation. Over the next four days, it was moved, by increments, to its current location, 90 E. Oneida.

Since that exhilarating day in December of 2003, many area residents have served on the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation, toiling to raise the funds needed to restore the building for future use. Over the last 23 years, many major phases have been completed, the most recent, this HVAC system.

The board is currently seeking $400,000 for framing, electrical, plumbing, and tech wiring. Qualifying contributions to this effort are tax-deductible, and will allow modern users to enjoy current standards for light, temperature and restroom facilities as they use the building for weddings, receptions, reunions, conferences, concerts and the arts. The building will also function as a museum of local history.

“We are anxious to once again open the doors of the magnificent Oneida Stake Academy building to the public, that the descendants of those who built and first attended it may enjoy its influence in their lives. It truly is an inspiring building to enter,” said Alexis Beckstead, chairman of the OSAF.

Contributions to the effort are greatly appreciated and can be sent to the Oneida Stake Academy Foundation at PO Box 555, Preston, Idaho or via venmo @oneidastakeacademy.

Other members of the Oneida Stake Academy building are Necia Seamons, Amy Bosworth, Brittin Turbow, Jeff Call, Brandon Olsen and John Olsen. Persons interested in helping on the board are invited to contact one of the board members.

(Originally published by NECIA P. SEAMONS Citizen correspondent Oct 22, 2025)