Rose Park Ward: Interior

The building was built during a time of transition in the Church--the beginning of largely standardized plans, but with some nice little touches that make the chapel memorable. The lobby has a nice bas-relief of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood (which I forgot to photograph during this visit--sorry). The main doors on the left lead to the chapel.

The chapel is very nice, with windows lining both sides, and some nice woodwork on the rostrum and pews.

It really does have some nice touches, showing that you don't need to go all out in order to make architecture memorable for local members.

Preservation Update: Murray First Ward to be demolished, other news

Note: Preservation Updates are a regularly occurring series of posts where I round up recent information on historic LDS buildings and their futures. Depending on the age of the post, there may be newer information available. Click here to see all Preservation Updates.

I used to update this blog three times a week; however, recently I have only updated it once a week due to a lack of time. I hope to continue to work on this blog more often in the future.

Still, I am adding a second post this week because of a long overdue Preservation Update for some recent news items. Let's hop right in!

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The original Murray First Ward is now slated for demolition, along with three other historic buildings in downtown Murray. They were originally protected, but the Murray City Council adopted an ordinance stating that historic buildings could be demolished "if the proposed project would add value to the tax base."

This is extremely disappointing. The building is part of Murray's heritage and history. A local preservation group is trying to build support to save at least the church, if not the other buildings. 

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While local groups try to save the Murray First Ward, the community in northern Salt Lake City is celebrating the preservation of the old Salt Lake 24th Ward. Donations totaling $40,000 from the community and businesses have helped transform it to a center for choral music, as well as a home for local dance groups. Kudos to the community for helping to save this building!

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Down in St. George, work continues on the historic tabernacle. Two recent articles--here and here--give more details into the visible changes being made to the building. This includes painting the window frames and front doors red, and the steeple a light green. These were the original colors when the tabernacle was first completed; recently, they were all white.

The clock faces are also being replaced with smaller ones, according to their original size. There's still no timeline on when the construction will be done, but at it's nice to see this historic gem taken care of!

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A local newspaper has published a detailed article (with nice pictures and video) of the El Paso Ward in Texas. You can check it out here.

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Finally, local rumors are apparently so prevalent that the Church's local public affairs representative for St. George has come out saying that there are no current plans for the St. George Temple to be renovated.

I think it'll be a few years before it happens, but I do think the temple will undergo a complete renovation and restoration in the next decade, once the current round of renovations (including the Mesa Temple, which was renovated around the same time as St. George) is complete.

Rose Park Ward

The Rose Park Ward (in Salt Lake) was built in the 1950s.

(Image Source: Church History Library)

It's pretty common for its era, but it's still a fairly nice building that I wanted to document. Look for pictures of the interior in my next post.

American Fork Third Ward

The American Fork Third Ward's chapel was originally built in 1903-1905. It had additions in the 1930s and 1950s that added a recreation hall and classrooms.

(Image Source: Church History Library)

Changes to the building over time were not always sensitive to the building's original design--for example, in the 1970s, the stained glass window and tower entrance were bricked in. The wood doors were all replaced. Finally, when the Church sold the building in 1994, they removed the steeple first--probably so the building would no longer appear as a place of worship. This is a confusing policy, and the only other place I've seen it implemented was for the Smithfield Tabernacle. In both cases, the building's appearance is definitely lacking because of the change. Many other buildings were sold with their steeple, so why was this one removed?

The building was a preschool from 1994 to 2000; after that, it became the Northampton House, a reception center. At this point, many of the building's original features were restored, including a stained glass window (not the original) and the tower's entry doors (but not the steeple).

Thirty-third Ward (Salt Lake): Exterior Details

Thirty-third Ward (Salt Lake)

I actually haven't been able to do some digging to find out when this meetinghouse was built. The ward was organized around the turn of the century and some sources indicate that the meetinghouse was built in 1902. The building is on the east side of the city; around 1100 E and 500 S.

(Image Source: Church History Library)

Unsurprisingly, the building has had a few remodels, one of which included the removal of the arched window and doors at the building's front. They were replaced with one square door and stone carvings. In this remodel, the direction of the chapel was switched.

(Image Source: Church History Library)

The stone carvings are very well done.

The interior of the chapel looks very nice. I love the arched windows, gilded borders, and more.