BOUNTIFUL -- "Strengthening the future by preserving the past" is one of the goals of the Bountiful Historical Foundation--a nonprofit group that aims to build a museum dedicated to Bountiful's history. And they're one step closer to accomplishing this goal.

The Bountiful City Council has agreed to help fund a new museum to be built by the Bountiful Historical Foundation.

Construction of the museum is expected to cost around $1.5 million, with half of the bill being paid for by the city.

"Bountiful was the second city in Utah," said council member Tom Tolman. "We need a museum to help preserve our history."

And the council agreed.

"I think that this is very exciting," said Mayor Joe Johnson. "Bountiful needs a museum like this."

While the city has agreed to split the bill, the foundation has a set schedule to raise its share of the cost, and will not see a dime from the city until physical money is raised.

"These benchmarks will make it so the pressure is on us. It'll give us initiative to move ahead," Tolman said. "But we're not worried, we're motivated to get this money raised and this museum built."

With a commitment from the city, the foundation has turned its focus towards the community, hoping to usher in donations for the museum.

"There's a lot of excitement and support in the community," Tolman said. "I really think that this is a doable project."

Right now, the Bountiful Historical Foundation is in the process of finalizing plans for the museum. And much is unknown.

But what is known is that the museum will house historical artifacts from 1847 to the present. It will also include hands-on activities as well as an area dedicated to archives. Trees will be planted surrounding the building in honor of the city's beginning as a farm community.

Construction of the museum will not begin until all funds are raised, which is slated to be finished in mid 2009.

The museum will be placed near the city office buildings, near the historical cabin, which currently houses much of the city's historical artifacts.

Last year, the foundation attempted to obtain the indoor swimming pool, aiming to change the pool into the proposed museum.

As the building faced inspection troubles, the foundation was forced to begin replanning a new site for the museum.

Now, the foundation has a set site, has a plan for fundraising and hopes that the museum will be built soon.

"I think that once this building is up, a lot of historical stuff will come out of the woodwork," Tolman said. "The sooner this building goes up, the better. If we don't build this museum soon, it just plain won't get done and we'll lose a lot of our history to the dump."

For more information about the Bountiful Historical Foundation, you may visit the city's Web site at www.bountifulutah.gov. From this site, you will find a link to the foundation titled "historical commission."

sryther@davisclipper.com