Rod Mortensen, Architect

03/20/2026

Have you been following the news about the Rio Grande Depot?

The 116-year-old landmark has a lot happening around it right now. The University of Utah is set to take ownership of the building from the state while also moving forward with plans for a west-side campus on a parcel just west. Salt Lake City is actively rezoning the Rio Grande District and has its own redevelopment vision for the area. And the depot itself is still midway through a seismic retrofit following the 2020 earthquake.

What's less clear is how all of these pieces connect. There's no announced plan yet for what the depot itself will become, and some of the biggest decisions about transit, housing, and the building's long-term use are still being worked out by different players at different tables.

We'll be keeping a close eye on this one. The Rio Grande Depot is a designated local landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its future matters, and we think the community deserves to be part of that conversation.

Read the full story on our Preservation News in Utah page.
https://www.preservationutah.org/preservation-news-in-utah

01/10/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1AGnXZjKue/?mibextid=wwXIfr

After the 2019 fire, the biggest challenge at Notre-Dame was not rebuilding, but saving what was still standing. The stone walls and flying buttresses survived, but they were under extreme stress. Heat had weakened the limestone, metal elements had expanded, and tons of water used by firefighters soaked the structure. For months, engineers feared parts of the cathedral could collapse long after the flames were out.

One little-known fact: before any real restoration could begin, the entire site was considered toxic. The roof and spire were covered in lead, and when they burned, microscopic lead dust spread everywhere — inside and around the cathedral. Workers had to operate in protective suits, and Paris set up strict safety zones. This phase alone took more than a year.

Another key decision was political and symbolic: France chose to rebuild Notre-Dame exactly as it was, not redesign it. That meant recreating medieval techniques almost from scratch. Over 1,000 oak trees were selected to rebuild the roof frame, chosen for size, age, and grain, just like in the 13th century. Some trees were over 200 years old.

The stone vaults were repaired, not replaced. Many blocks were cracked but still usable, and experts preferred reinforcing them rather than starting over. This slower method preserved as much original material as possible.

A surprising result of the restoration is the cathedral’s brightness. Many visitors think the interior looks “new,” but it’s actually closer to its original color. Centuries of candle smoke, pollution, and dust had darkened the stone. Cleaning revealed pale limestone that hadn’t been visible for generations.

Finally, the project became a massive coordination effort. Architects, historians, engineers, carpenters, and stone masons worked together, often debating tiny details most people will never notice — like tool marks or mortar texture.

What this restoration proves is simple: Notre-Dame wasn’t rebuilt quickly. It was rebuilt carefully, with the goal that, one day, people will forget there was ever a fire at all.

11/12/2025

From 2001 to 2004 I served the state of Utah as one of 2 official Historic Architects, advising and inspecting projects such as our Capitol’s restoration and the Golden Spike National Monument. During that time I worked with a visionary and sometimes unpopular boss who was working to create a truly cutting edge State History Museum. On Capitol Hill this 25+ year dream is being built mostly by funds raised by the retro black & white auto license plate. Walking around this new museum on a beautiful fall day I felt privileged that I got to be involved in and to advise many of the key players in the very early stages of this dream now coming true!

07/09/2025

This is one of my first Preservation Architecture projects in my career. It’s in Murray, Utah. It had been converted into multiple apartments and needed some creative TLC.

12/06/2024

This attraction as Disneyland was one of my favorites because it was all about planning a better future with time saving inventions and at the end opened up to a huge model of a modern city. It was part of my inspiration to improve the world by becoming an Architect, Designer and Planner.❤️

08/12/2024

05/09/2024

05/08/2024

Leamington project progress photos.

05/05/2024

1882 Cabin restoration in progress.

04/05/2024

I'm sad to say that there is a lot of misrepresentation of facts in the press. The Church of Jesus Christ has not owned this church for a very long time and the strong arm that the city is taking is often what owners feel takes away their rights in property. The truth is the better way to preserve historic buildings is by giving incentives to the property owners to keep and restore their buildings. One of these incentives is tax breaks which are present from both the federal and state tax commissions. Another is grants to help them maintain and fix up their buildings. A third is exemptions to codes that are grandfathered in (which everyone has on their own home the minute it is not new - those spaces meet the code of their day until they change use substantially or are remodeled enough to require the entire structure to meet todays code otherwise any new work must meet the current code.) The difference is when a local government creates local laws that usually include historic districts to protect buildings that are historically significant. This does not come from any federal or state law only from local entities that decide they want to regulate historic buildings. Too much information? Come to me and I can help you with the details of historic preservation or as they like to call it rehabilitation. Anyway this article at least gives a few more truths than the last one by the same source and so many other Utah news outlets. (By the way I am in favor of having demolition permits based on making sure that demolition is done with safety in mind and I love saving historic buildings through incentive and establishing historic districts and laws by the majority of the populace. When you buy in an area where there are these restrictions you then know as a buyer that they are there. placing them on owners without their consent is not really fair in my mind.) I'll also be interested to see if this historic building gets rebuilt as it should be.

https://kutv.com/news/2news-investigates/prospective-buyers-of-fifth-ward-meetinghouse-downtown-salt-lake-city-say-they-were-lied-to-betrayed-by-owner?fbclid=IwAR34iJ1dSpsZNGdUXVvjNDLsALpg15oSa74qgl2y2HVeJsYiYmJEGUjsCEo_aem_ATafAc704_OjkS9aTsFEyZYh9_yPUGjpaOTS4aGwFqF0ffqyM6xyxYXYXbUbW50Id1WIM_sK3iPy10oR9ti5UkN0 #

Two men who were hoping to buy and then give new life to the historic Fifth Ward Meetinghouse say they now know they were deceived by the current owner.In an ex

03/11/2024

This is an actual historic restoration, so if you’d like to still see a pioneer temple (before they are all gone,) get out and see this. The Saint George, Logan, and Salt Lake Temples have or are being remodeled and although they’ve made Saint George and the Salt Lake look more like history, very little, if any of it is actual Pioneer era. Kind of the difference between seeing Disney’s Epcot or actually going to those historic places in the world. I am excited that at least this temple was restored.  I got to be part of the final inspection on the work and it is well done and of high-quality.