Bountiful Tabernacle: Staircase Details

The stairs are reminiscent, albeit not as grand nor as tall, as the staircases in the St. George Tabernacle. They are one of the most beautiful parts of the tabernacle.

Bountiful Tabernacle: Interior Details

On the entablature above the windows are laurel wreaths with a ribbon across the bottom.

The balcony has some beautiful woodwork. The columns have some graining to make them appear marble, a common practice at the time.

The woodworking pattern along the bottom of the balcony railing is in a Greek key pattern; a classic decorative motif that has been around more thousands of years. While a common design, it has some symbolism referring to eternity or infinity.

While now connected to a larger building, the adobe walls of the tabernacle are apparent when you enter the chapel or look through the windows. The walls are a few feet thick.

Bountiful Tabernacle: Painting Details

Behind the pulpit in the Bountiful Tabernacle is now organ pipes. However, prior to its 1970s renovation, there was a large piece of artwork, commissioned by Brigham Young and completed by Dan Weggeland, depicting the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Brigham Young told Dan that the Prophet Joseph Smith was never able to see Zion (the Intermountain West, where the Church was able to be established and grow). In the painting, the Prophet, in a form of a bust, is gazing out on the Promised Land. 

The painting is done in shades of gray to create the illusion of a three-dimensional sculpture. The bust of Joseph Smith is underneath a trailing scroll with the words "Holiness to the Lord," held up by two cherubs on the corners. Underneath the bust on the column are several symbols. On the sides are suns, moons, and scrolls; in the center is the all-seeing eye, the Urim and Thummim, the sword of Laban, and the Book of Mormon. 

The art was removed in the 1970s renovation and is now in the Church History Museum. A small copy of the art hangs in the Tabernacle lobby.

Bountiful Tabernacle: Chapel Interior

The Bountiful Tabernacle has changed greatly from its original form. One renovation had built the overflow onto the north end of the chapel (seen on the left side of this picture).

 (Image Source: Utah State Historical Society)

You can see the overflow being used in this picture of a meeting in progress. You can also see some more details that used to be on the walls--too bad they're not there anymore.

(Image Source: Church History Library)

The painting of Joseph Smith was removed in the 1970s renovation, and is now in the Church's collection. I'll show close-up pictures of it in my next post.

The chapel has lots some of its details. Organ pipes are now at the front. However, it still has some great features--the entablature details above the windows (laurel wreaths), historic light fixtures with moldings, and woodworking on the balcony, staircase, and columns.

More images are to come.

Bountiful Tabernacle

I originally posted about the The Bountiful Tabernacle back in 2015. I was able to visit it again to get some better photos of the exterior and interior, which I will be sharing over the next few weeks. 

Completed in 1863, it's the second-oldest tabernacle still standing (the tabernacle in Parowan beat it by one year). It holds the distinction as the oldest LDS chapel that has been in continuous use. (I've often seen that title given to the Pine Valley Chapel, but that was completed in 1868.) 

It was nearly torn down in the 1970s, but was saved because of the massive protest that erupted when local leaders announced it was going to be torn down.

It hasn't changed much. In the picture below, you'll notice the absence of spires--they had blown off in a wind storm in 1906 and weren't replaced for nearly 50 years.

(Image Source: Utah State Historical Society)

Preservation Updates: Salt Lake Chapels and Temple, San Bernardino Chapel

 I just posted about the San Bernardino chapel (no longer owned by the LDS Church) a few weeks ago, but recently learned that the original building burned down last fall. This included a lot of the original stained glass that remained in the building, since only the original icons in the windows were removed. It's really too bad to see it go.

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The Salt Lake Twelfth Ward is being converted into a community center to serve the homeless population, and new apartments will be built behind. I documented the building while it was still a church in these posts.

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One of two pioneer-era assembly halls remaining in Salt Lake City, the old Second Ward assembly hall, built in 1883, has a new owner to hopes to preserve it (the other one is at 420 S 800 E). This building is the predecessor to the beautiful Second Ward building with its stained glass window of the First Vision. It was listed on Zillow a couple of years ago, advertised as a "developer's dream," but fortunately the new owner did not go that route. I'm excited to see how this turns out.

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The Church shared an update about the Salt Lake Temple renovation, not only reminding everyone of the already announced open house dates, but showing some pictures of the renovation progress. This includes the repainting of the beautiful plaster details on the celestial room ceiling.

As a reminder, the temple was not completely gutted. The top-floor assembly hall, the celestial room and adjoining sealing rooms, and most of the terrestrial room have been preserved. It is unfortunate that so much was lost, but we'll cherish what was preserved.

Santa Clara Utah Heights Stake: Lobby Mural

 This stake center in Santa Clara is a pretty typical building of the late 70s/early 80s period.

However, it was the home stake of the artist Robert L. Shephard, who painted several well-known murals for the Church, including the garden room in the Manti and Idaho Falls Temples, the baptistry in Manti, the Idaho Falls Fourth Ward, and more. In the north lobby, he painted the Ascension of Christ:

I would probably date this mural to the early 80s. It's outside of the chapel, so artwork was likely prohibited in the chapel by this time. As he did in the Idaho Falls 4th Ward, he painted the mural to fit the space, making use of the peaked ceiling to show Christ's height above the watching apostles.

It's a unique idea that I wish we'd see more. If we really are against artwork in the chapels, we could commission larger paintings and artwork in other areas of the meetinghouse. In any case, paintings like this aren't common.