Laketown Ward: Interior Details

Similar to the Herriman Ward's building, the Laketown Ward's exterior was well-preserved, but the interior is completely redone. The front half of the building on the main floor is the primary room (see below), and the rest of it is divided into small classrooms. I couldn't really find any historical features that were kept.

Meanwhile, I also hopped next door to the 1920s cultural hall to photograph the interior.

This ward (like most other wards around Bear Lake) is so busy in the summer, nearly every room is set up with chairs and video so everyone can participate in sacrament meeting.

The cultural hall even has some classrooms above the main entrance and behind the stage. I really like the feel of this complex of buildings, although I wish some more historical features could have been preserved from the original chapel's interior.

Granite Ward

Located in east Sandy, near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, this building is beautiful. Construction began at the turn of the century, around 1900. The exterior was completed by 1905, but the interior wasn't finished until about 10 years later (And paying the building off took much longer). The building is originally red brick, but was painted over in 1950.

In 1964, a new building was built a couple of blocks to the north. The original cornerstone was moved to the new building, and the old building was sold in 1965 to Avard T. Fairbanks, a well-known sculptor who used it for storage. (Among many other things, he carved the baptismal font and friezes in the Laie Hawaii Temple, the Angel Moroni for the Washington D.C. Temple, the Priesthood Restoration Monuments on Temple Square, the Joseph Smith statue in the Joseph Smith Building at BYU, and many other Church works of art.) His son now owns the building and uses it to house his fathers' pieces.
 

Coalville Tabernacle: Stained Glass Detail & Preservation

I have already done posts on the former Coalville Tabernacle and the chapel that replaced it and houses its paintings and stained glass. After my first visit I learned that the window at the front of the chapel has backlighting, and so I made another visit to properly photograph it.

This window is lovely, with cool green colors that contrast with the other windows.

A dove with an olive leaf is at the top of the window.

While there, I checked on the other windows and talked with some local members. The Church is taking good care of these historic artifacts--the paintings of the prophets were removed a couple of years ago for some cleaning and preservation efforts and then replaced. Now, the Church is working on the stained glass windows, taking them down one at a time to do repair and preservation efforts before replacing them. The south window was gone when I visited.

Finally, last time I visited, there were curtains on the sides of the stained glass windows; now, they have a bar at the top and a shade that comes down. The only issue is the bar blocks the top of the windows from being viewed properly, but it's a minor quibble. These stained glass windows are among the oldest in the Church, and I'm very happy to see that the Church is taking good care of them and keeping them in this chapel for local saints to enjoy.

Salt Lake 34th Ward

Built in 1921, this chapel on the west side of Salt Lake City has an impressive entrance. It was later sold and now houses another congregation.