FARMINGTON -- The cozy-looking home that has served as the Davis County Children's Justice Center since 1997 was originally built in 1900 by Callene Sorensen's great-grandfather, John Joel Steed.
With the Davis CJC, at 125 S. Main St., scheduled to be razed in January, Sorensen is coming to collect a few of the original pieces that remain with the historic family home, specifically the stained glass windows and tiles off the fireplace mantle.
"I think my dead ancestors have been working on me," said Sorensen, who agreed to pay Davis County $425 to remove the items from the structure prior to its demolition.
The Davis County Commission approved its agreement on parts of the house with Sorensen at its Nov. 22 meeting.
"We should have never sold the house," Sorensen said of the 2-acre piece of property that upon the death of her great-grandfather and great-grandmother, Lucy Jane Lamb Steed, was turned over to her great-grandfather's sister.
The county eventually acquired the land in 1987.
Sorensen says she is grateful that county officials are allowing her to come back and buy historical, original pieces out of the home.
She said she plans to donate some of the pieces to the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park.
Because the home has been remodeled so many times, she said, only a few of the original pieces remain.
The current Davis CJC, which has a homelike atmosphere where sexually and physically abused children are interviewed by authorities, will be demolished in January. The county will vacate the structure in December.
The county will then move into its new $1.6 million CJC, which is just east of the current building.
Before selling the historic items to Sorensen, the county had a fair market appraisal for the items she purchased, Davis County director of procurement and contracts Curtis Koch said.
The agreement between the county and Sorensen also makes her responsible and liable for removing the items from the center upon the county vacating it, Koch said.
"I'm glad you guys kept track of this," Davis County Commissioner John Petroff Jr. told Koch upon approving the agreement Nov. 22.
Sorensen said she contacted the county about buying the pieces after she did a walk-through of the property.
The new Davis CJC is part of a much larger $22.5 million Davis County Memorial Courthouse campus renovation taking place at 28 E. State, in Farmington.
The renovation project includes the construction of a $4.8 million main branch library; a $16 million three-story administrative office building and the $1.6 million CJC.
The CJC is scheduled to open Dec. 15 while the library and office building are scheduled to be completed by August 2012.
The Davis CJC serves annually about 400 children, their parents and families, said Tanya Perkins, Davis CJC director.
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