From Ashes to a House of the
Lord
The public has a rare opportunity to see a
temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Provo City
Center Temple’s open house opened to the public this past Friday, January 15th
and goes through March 5th. Tickets are free and you can get them here. Tickets must be in high demand
because when I went there there were no tickets available. The web site
promises that more will be available soon so if you want to go you need to check
often. They do allow a limited number of visitors that do not have tickets to wait in a different line for a tour, so it is possible to go without a ticket. I remember going to the tabernacle on a few occasions when I was a
student at BYU and loved the detail and beauty of the building.
December 17, 2010 was a devastating day for those that live in
Provo or for anyone that had lived there in the past. The tabernacle was gutted
by fire and it was a total loss – except for the outer walls.
 |
| Provo Tabernacle before the fire |
Built in 1883 the Provo tabernacle was one of the oldest
buildings in Utah. For 127 years many church meetings were held there and even
a few presidents of the United States visited and spoke in the tabernacle. In
the October 2011 General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson announced that
the gutted tabernacle would be rebuilt as a temple. Construction began on May
12, 2012. An article about the reconstruction of the tabernacle to a temple described
the work that it took to preserve what was left of the building:
“In the early hours following the fire, contractors
were able to execute an engineering feat that had never been done before to
preserve what was left of the tabernacle. An innovative lattice structure was
created to stabilize the building.
"That in itself was
miraculous," described Roberts. "Nothing had ever been designed that
way. They built it and designed it at the same time."
“Over several weeks we removed 14
tons of debris from the site,” Dickamore said.
Once the project got the green
light, the building was strengthened by removing two of five layers of brick
from the interior and securing the remaining layers with steel ties. A
two-layered grid of rebar was then installed inside the perimeter and filled
with concrete.” (“Provo
City Center Temple Ready for Public Tours”)
The following are a few pictures of the Provo Tabernacle
fire, the reconstruction and the finished temple. The pictures of the fire are
from a Deseret News article
published the day after the fire. The pictures of the completed temple are
published by the LDS Church and can be found here.
At the end of the blog is a seven-minute video clip published by the LDS church
of the fire and reconstruction project. It is well worth the time to watch it.
It is a blessing for those living in the Provo area to have the church preserve
the original look of the building and have it stand as the House of the Lord
for the next millennia.
 |
| All that is left of the Provo Tabernacle are the outer walls |
 |
| Inside of the wall have a cement face to preserve the walls |
 |
| Construction begins on the new temple of the Lord |
 |
| The Provo City Center Temple Completed |
 |
| Ordinance Room |
 |
| Stairs in the completed Provo City Center Temple |
 |
| Celestial Room |
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments will be reviewed prior to them being posted. I invite questions and comments, but will not post offensive or argumentative comments. Comments that are appropriate will be posted as soon as possible.