Preservation Predictions: A St. George Temple Renovation

Note: The 'Preservation Predictions' series examines what historic Mormon buildings may be renovated/preserved in the future. For all of the posts in this series, click here.

5/22/19 Update: I wrote this post back in June 2015, detailing what I would like to see if/when the St. George Temple was renovated. Today (May 2019), the Church announced details on the renovation. I have divided this post into two parts--first, I will talk about the current details of the renovation and my thoughts; then I will leave the original post about what my hopes were for a renovation below.

For a post on the temple's floor plan and layout, click here.

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May 2019 Post - St. George Renovation Details

The Church has released details on the St. George Temple renovation, including some renderings. Here's what the details are that I can glean from the news release:

--The temple will receive seismic upgrades and new, updated systems to preserve the structure. I'm always happy to see we're taking good care of our old buildings.

--The "upper portion" of the temple's annex (built in the 1970s renovation) will be demolished and rebuilt. I didn't mind the annex because it had a simple, complementing design, but I like the new design as well:

--In addition to that, the addition that was built onto the rear of the temple--also a product of the 1970s--will be demolished and widened to fit better with the original building's design. You can tell by comparing a photo of the temple as it is now, with a temple rendering.

Excluding the windows in the spiral staircase towers, the original building has 8 windows that run on the sides from the front to the back. In the rendering, you can see 10 windows, with the last 2 being on the new addition, which is still slightly smaller than the building itself. There are also more accurate windows on the back. They are moving more sealing rooms into the historic temple, so this may be a way they can do that.

--They are preserving and refinishing the 1870 baptismal font and updating the baptistry, including moving the entrance. I'm glad they're taking care of the font while rearranging the baptistry--the layout is very confusing, the confirmation rooms are tiny, and the locker rooms are also small.

--Benches are back in the ordinance rooms! This is historically accurate. They will likely be benches like in the Provo City Center Temple--they are actually theater seats in a bench.

--Murals are back in the ordinance rooms! This still leaves two unanswered questions: the use of the live endowment and the use of progression (both of which were taken out of the temple in the 1970s renovation, although some pieces of the original murals were returned in the 1990s).

There is space at the front of the room for a film, which means that using a live endowment probably isn't in the cards (unless, like Salt Lake, they plan to do some use of film and some use of live).

Progression is a harder one to see. For example, this file is labeled "creation room" (which fits what the murals show). I like seeing the windows open. If this really is the original creation room, it is in the northwest corner of the temple. If progression were to be used, there wouldn't be a need for an altar in the creation room, so that's not encouraging.

If progression were to be used, the door on the right could be where patrons enter--or it could be where they exit, either to the garden room or terrestrial (veil) room. 

In the other rendering, the file is labeled "Red Rock," but it would be the world (or telestial) room.

Since this building is in the southwest corner of the temple, patrons would need to be facing the back of the temple. This means the door at the front on the right would have to come from the garden room.

Of course, these two rooms are clearly from the same rendering--the only thing that changes is the murals. So obsessing about the altars/door locations is probably not necessary. I'm just playing with the temple's floor plan here.

Meanwhile, no rendering was provided of the garden room. Will the drop ceiling be removed so we have the arched ceiling again? Time will tell. I'm assuming that all of the mural will be restored, though.

This leads to one last question--the mural designs. My guess is that they will incorporate the original mural portions into the new murals "inspired by the murals removed in the 1970s" (as they stated in the press conference). For example, we know the creation room did have depictions of the ocean, so that looks accurate, but I struggle to see where the murals currently in the temple fit in to the murals in the renderings. I do think they will probably fit in, and the murals are probably adding to what was originally there (the world room only ever had murals on two walls), but it's something I anticipate seeing.

--The veil in the terrestrial (veil) room looks like it takes up less space here. I also can't see if they will keep the painting of the desert sky above the veil. Other than that, this room looks great in the rendering. They say it will be what it looked like before the 1970s renovation.

--If you compare the celestial room as it is now and in the rendering, it looks like some decorative details are removed from the walls and ceiling, and overall the room looks much more white. This could be an attempt to make the room fit as it was originally decorated, or the rendering could be incomplete. I do like the decorative details and wouldn't mind if they were kept, even if they were a later addition.

It does look like they also take out the small rooms on the sides of the celestial room, which is too bad if they do.

--Finally, it looks like they're taking good care of the assembly room. They're adding in the bench seating to match what would originally have been in this room. They're also adding electric lights up there, so it could be used in more often, if needed.

Overall, a renovation is always trying to balance safety and accessibility with preserving the historic character and features of a building. I feel like the Church has tried very hard to do that, and overall been very sensitive to the building's historic character. I do hope that the progressive endowment is used (I always felt that using a live endowment would be a long shot). This is something we'll have to see in a few years!

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June 2015 Post -  Original Thoughts on a St. George Temple Renovation

As the summer's begun, and I continue to research current events surrounding historic LDS buildings, I've noticed that rumors of temple renovations are wildly flying. In the past few weeks, I have heard several people worry aloud that the Manti Temple would be closed for a long renovation, a few talk about how the Mesa Temple is supposed to close soon, some mentioning that "according to a temple worker" the Logan Temple will soon be renovated, and others talking about how the temple in St. George should close shortly.

These rumors tend to start because of new temples built nearby (Manti: Payson; Mesa: Gilbert/Phoenix; Logan: Star Valley; St. George: Cedar City), but for now, I tend to error on the side of skepticism, since I haven't seen any other indications of an impending renovation for most of those temples.

However, as renovation project for the St. George Temple is something I eagerly anticipate. Let me explain why.

The St. George Temple has five floors. The basement, second, and fourth floors are full floors that take up the entire building. The third and fifth floors (the floors with the circular windows) are mezzanine floors on the sides of the temple, consisting of mostly sealing rooms.

Originally, the second and fourth floors were both large assembly halls, each with seven pillars running along the sides (that support the mezzanine levels above). These are beams with a rounded wood facade. Each of them had a 27-foot-high domed ceiling. The ordinances were performed in the basement--all of them, including the endowment.

As you can imagine, they quickly discovered that this was a rather cramped layout, so the terrestrial and celestial rooms were moved up a floor. Eventually, all of the endowment rooms were moved to the second floor, and in the 1930s, permanent walls were built that divided it into different rooms. Even as you attend a session, though, you can see the pillars and the domed ceiling (the creation and world rooms are on the side, so there's no dome; the garden room has a domed ceiling, but it's been covered by a flat one. You can still see it, however, in the terrestrial and celestial rooms).

Unfortunately, logistics dictated a remodeling (that lasted from March 1974 to December 1975) that paid less attention to the historic character. The creation, garden, and world rooms were changed to stationary rooms, which meant that the terrestrial room lost most of its meaning. The murals were removed from the first three rooms. A small portion of each one was restored in 1992, when the new temple president requested their return. Doors were filled in that connected the creation, garden, and world rooms. The domed ceiling was covered in the garden and the terrestrial rooms (in later years, it was removed in the terrestrial room--thank heavens! Because the vaulted ceiling adds so much to that room!).

This is a picture of the world room (known as Ordinance Room 3) as it looks today, looking toward the front of the room (northeast corner)

(Image Source)

And here's a picture of the garden room before its renovation:

(Image Source)

This is before the renovation. Now, the only portion of the mural present is the part with the swan, between the two pillars (those are some of the pillars holding up the third floor). The rest of the walls are blank, except for a similar portion of the mural opposite it. I believe the rest of the murals are still intact, they just cut away a portion for each room.

The temple also had a new annex built (the one-story portion on the north side, which I like), and a new stairway built onto the back of the temple. You can see this in comparing photos of the temple as it looked historically, and as it does today:

(Image Source)

Emil Fetzer, Church architect at the time, described his frustration at trying to develop a feasible plan to remodel the temple. It was impossible for patrons to access one room without going through another, and fire exits were inadequate and needed to be updated. In his frustration, he later described driving to the intersection of South Temple and State Street (in Downtown Salt Lake City):

"As I was passing under the Eagle Gate, I heard a voice that was clear and distinct but it was not a spoken sound, but rather a transmission of thought into my mind, the message of which was, 'If you move the fire tower stairways out away from the west wall of the Temple, a lobby space will be created.' The import of that thought was immediately recognized...An incredibly marvelous, simple, logical, and crucial revelation for needed help, had been given to the Church Architect for his work...

"Early the next morning, I could not get to my office fast enough. At the drafting table I quickly drew the plan...It planned out marvelously. The two stairway fire towers were moved twelve feet out from the west wall of the Temple and a large lobby, the full width of the temple, was thus created next to the back walls of the three Ordinance Rooms. Doorways from the Lobby were provided into each of these rooms" (see Yorgason, All That Was Promised, 335-6).

While the renovation may be disappointing in some aspects, the circumstances of the time (increasing demand on the temple, the possibility of using the film endowment, constrained finances of the Church, etc.) made it necessary. The Church is now much more sensitive in remodeling its historic structures. In fact, a few years ago, the Church produced an Architectural Design Guide for this temple, to "serve as a reference" in future renovations, which seems more focused on the historic nature of the building.

It may seem petty, but here are the things I would love to see happen in 2019, or whenever a future renovation happens:

1. Restore the historical elements of the ordinance rooms relating to the endowment.

I seriously doubt that the live version of the endowment would be brought back to this temple--although I definitely would love that! However, I would definitely want to see progression restored to the temple. Progression was taken away--and then restored--to the temples in Los Angeles and Laie (as recently as 2010!); surely it could be done here.

Sessions would only be held once every hour, instead of every 40 minutes. However, with the opening of the temple in Cedar City, St. George's temple district could easily be reduced from 47 stakes (currently) to about 32 stakes. That's more manageable, and what I would like to see for a historic temple, anyway.

In conjunction with that, I would love to see the murals fully restored (which would probably mostly be repainted). I would also like the ceilings to be taken back to their original curved architecture, and the windows being used, instead of always being tightly drawn (I understand that the use of film plays a role in this, but can't they be opened and closed, as I've seen occur in other temples?). These moves would have a tremendous impact in giving the historical feel to the temple.

2. If possibly, modify the stairwell arrangement.

I can hardly suggest that the Church demolish the back of the temple just to get rid of the new stairway; however, I would like to make a few changes--for example, changing the fake windows to real ones, even if they have the same white curtains that all the other windows have. It would restore unity to the architecture, provide natural light, and still maintain privacy.

Along those lines, I wish the stairs in the east tower (the ones accessed by climbing the east stairs) could be used at least a bit. I don't know if they've been used at all since the temple's rededication:

"Many of those who attended the [rededication] entered the temple through the large east doors and ascended the steep spiral staircases to the upper-floor assembly room of the edifice" (Source).

3. Remove the metal letters on the east side of the temple (visible in the photo above)

These were added in the 1950s and just don't match the building's character. I would change this somehow. Maybe a sign, if needed. But the letters don't blend with the historic architecture at all, and they sort of look like an afterthought.

4. Restore and improve the assembly hall.

The lower windows in this picture look into the ordinance rooms (the celestial room, in this picture specifically). The circular windows look into sealing rooms. And the windows above--the ones without curtains--look into the temple's beautiful priesthood assembly hall.

(Image Source)

The assembly hall has pulpits on either side, one for the Aaronic Priesthood, and one for the Melchizedek. The stairway addition eliminated the windows on the west side (another reason I'm not too fond of it), and the assembly hall still has no electric lights--meetings held in this room, sparse as they are, rely on natural light, or electric lights strung up on the ceiling. From what I've seen in other historic buildings, electric lights could be sensitively added to this room, increasing its usability. I would love to see it used often--for temple worker meetings, stake temple nights, etc. From what I've seen, it's a beautiful room.

Now that I'm done ranting, let me emphasize the fact that the temple functions wonderfully as is, and historic preservation (or lack thereof) has no bearing on the sanctity of any temple. However, with a treasure like the St. George Temple, I can't help but want it to be preserved for another 138 years, so that future generations can also enjoy the history and heritage that is visible in its walls.