The Church Newsroom published its article on the completion of the Mesa Temple Renovation this week, and it was exciting to look through! I have updated my original post that tours the temple with the new images, so I won't go through all of them here. However, I wanted to share my thoughts on how much I loved this renovation.
I loved how this renovation focused on restoring the temple to its original appearance. The
Church renovations have been very good at this recently, getting rid of
furnishings, paint, and changes that were made since the temple opening
so that it focuses on how it looked at its original dedication.
I loved how this renovation balanced modernization and restoration. The Mesa Temple had some heavy remodels that removed progression and most of the murals. This remodel restored progression and recreated the murals. Portions of the original murals that were saved were hung in the temple hallways so they could be honored. I think this was a wonderful idea. While it's a little sad that the few original portions of murals aren't in the endowment rooms anymore, the walls did have to come down to allow for utility improvements.
After the discouraging news of the Salt Lake Temple's remodel, which appears to have gotten rid of murals without a second thought, and the intention to do the same in Manti, the decision to instead preserve Manti's murals, along with the results of this remodel, are refreshing and encouraging. I hope the results would have some impact on the Salt Lake's remodel--perhaps encouraging them to recreate murals, as was done very well here. Even if they didn't do it, they should certainly keep some of the original murals and hang them in the temple, as was done here, so that they can still be seen and enjoyed in their original environment.
Meanwhile, the pioneer temple renovations continue. St. George is about halfway through its remodel that will also see its murals recreated:
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The Salt Lake Temple continues its heavy renovation, still at least 3 years away from completion:
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And the Manti Temple has only just begun its 2-year renovation that will see its original floorplan and murals preserved, thanks to the efforts of members:
The only one we haven't heard anything about is Logan, which is the one I'm most intrigued about. President Nelson originally indicated a restoration would be in the work for some pioneer temples, which seems to be the case for St. George but certainly not Salt Lake nor the original Manti plans. I'm wondering if they will change their minds and basically keep Logan as is, or update it in some other way that is a little more sensitive to its pioneer history. We'll have to see.
In regards to Logan, I think it's a sure thing that they'll bring the interior back to it's late 19th century aesthetic, but the specifics are yet to be seen. The former layout was part of the reason why the previous renovations were so drastic, so I don't think they'll revert back to that. They can either keep the current stationary layout while giving it more of a 19th century feel (like with the current Salt Lake renovations), or rework the interior so that progression could be used again. Either option is preferable to the tacky 1970's interior that's in there now...
ReplyDeleteI have been eagerly awaifing your assesment. This renovation is more than I expected. If is so sympathetic and the temple just sings. It looks so fantastic, it is excuting to think of similar aged temples undergoing restoration at least to a style sympathetic and respectful to the original vision and era.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see affection wain for some of the newer temples giving the Church greater flexibility and scope to redesign. The Hamilton, London and Bern temples have undergone significant renovations, yet only Hamilton has returned to a mid century style. Rather than have new interiors that fight against the external architectural styles, we are now seeing them being embraced and celebrated and reflected internally. I hope this bodes well for Logan. Fingees crossed.
After going trough the Mesa Temple for the Open House, I noticed that the sealing room that was once off the celestial room has been removed. Instead, there is more space for the veil so that more people can go through. The veil is shaped like an L.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that the ordinance rooms are labeled one through four. I don't know if this is standard for temples that have progressive ordinance rooms. I also noticed that an alter has been added to the creation room after they took the open house pictures. It made me wonder if they are really going back to progression or if the rooms will remain stationary. The creation and garden rooms are connected, but they also have doors to the outside hall. These may be for the use of ordinance workers; but The doors could also be used to cut over to the veil room. So I came away with the impression that there could be flexibility as to how the endowment is presented. Perhaps they could revert to a stationary set up when the temple is busy.
I have recently learned that the Mesa Temple will not do the progressive endowment rooms. It was decided that even though a great deal of time, money and effort went to install lifts for wheelchairs, they are too slow to use, so back to the endowment in one room. Very sad. There could have been handicapped sessions and maintain the progressive endowment rooms for the rest.
ReplyDeleteYet again form over substance wins as it always will with bureaucrats.
Where did you hear that? I don't think that they're stupid enough to abandon progression after they put all that effort in showcasing the new murals and emphasizing the return to a progressive endowment in their press release (on Newsroom). They specifically stated that:
Delete"In the Mesa Temple, patrons advance room to room, with each instruction room elevated slightly above the previous one, symbolizing progression towards heaven."
But then again the Church did throw out the murals in the Salt Lake Temple after promising not to, so unfortunately your comment isn't too far fetched.
I know this for a fact because family members did the work on the wheelchair lifts and other family members are Temple workers. I am told many people are not happy about it but as always, these things are presented as a done deal. I guess there is hope that they could go back to the progressive. It seems to me that the powers that be are threatened by by any variance in their temple presentations,wanting all temples to be same.
DeleteThat is disheartening. I remember feeling puzzled after the First Presidency explained the reason why they switched to stationary in the Salt Lake Temple back in March (uniform presentation in all temples). They seem to have forgotten that most of the temples during the Hinckley and Monson areas were progressive (2-stage). I'm not sure if their statement was historical amnesia or deliberate ignorance, but either way, it was frustrating considering that presentations of endowments are definitely NOT the same from temple to temple.
DeleteIt seems that the church has learned its lesson from the Salt Lake/Manti fiasco, but not the lesson that we hoped for. They're quietly implementing changes without publicity hoping to avoid controversy, but in doing so they're causing even more of a controversy. Hopefully, with enough concerns addressed, they'll address this issue directly, but I'm doubtful.
James/Anon, I have been communicating with locals who have indeed confirmed that they plan to keep the temple stationary. After all that work! The only consolation is that the renovation set it up to easily return to progression if future Church leaders are more sympathetic to the building's original intentions.
DeleteAnd yet the Newsroom still has the video that they produced that showcased progression in the Mesa Temple. I am baffled that they advertised progression during the media day, then reversed course during the middle of the public open house. This makes me even more nervous for the upcoming Manti Temple renovations.
Deletehttps://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/11/13/future-this-historic-lds/ I just found this article.
ReplyDeleteI'm following the Wells Ward closely. Another one in that area is also being sold. It's so sad!
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