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As the first building to house the Brigham Young Academy in Provo burned to the ground in 1884, Utah's future U.S. senator, Reed Smoot, stood next to Karl G. Maeser, the academy's first professor, and mourned the end of the fledgling school.
The older and wiser professor politely informed Smoot -- whose father, Abraham O. Smoot, would spend his fortune keeping the school afloat -- that it was simply the end of what was known as the Lewis Building, which had been donated by LDS Church President Brigham Young as the foundation for the academy.
A replica of that building was dedicated Wednesday morning at This Is the Place Heritage Park, largely as a tribute to the foresight of Maeser and the elder Smoot. Hundreds of area residents attended the hourlong, outdoor dedication ceremony under sunny skies, as temperatures approached 90 degrees.
Before dedicating the building, President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints read from the diary of his father, Bryant S. Hinckley, who was among...