Provo City Library - Provo, UT - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

This block is named Brigham Young Academy Square in recognition of its vital history. In 1875, Brigham Young, then President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, founded Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah. He appointed a board of seven trustees, with Abraham O. Smoot as president. Under Karl G. Maeser, principal, the Academy held classes in the Lewis Building from 1876 to 1884, when the building was destroyed by fire. Thereafter, the school occupied temporary quarters for eight years. The historic Academy Building, designed by Joseph Don Carlos Young, was dedicated on January 4, 1892. In later years, three additional buildings were erected on this square: College Hall (1898), the Training School Building (1902), and the Missionary Preparatory Building (1904). These three buildings were demolished in 1997.

After the Academy became Brigham Young University in 1903, the University continued to occupy the buildings on this square. They became known as "lower campus" after the Maeser Building (1911) was erected on Temple Hill ("upper campus"). Brigham Young University then used both campuses until 1968. The University's Brigham Young High School also used this site from it's beginning to closure in 1968. The lower campus was sold in 1975. The four buildings stood vacant over the next two decades.

Provo City purchased the square in 1994 and in 1995 the Brigham Young Academy Foundation, the Utah Heritage Foundation, and Provo City launched a six-year effort to renovate the Academy Buildings as the Provo City Library at Academy Square.

The preceding information was taken from an historical plaque placed at Brigham Young Academy Square.

The following is an excerpt from the Provo City Library at Academy Square Library and Building History:

"In February 1997 a $16 million library bond passed with 58% of the vote. The bond preserved the historic Brigham Young Academy building at 550 North University Avenue, owned by Provo City, from demolition. The Brigham Young Academy Foundation raised an additional $5.8 million in donations by June 30, 1997 for the renovation. Ground was broken on July 9, 1999 and the dedication occurred on September 8, 2001."
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