Monday, August 31, 2020

Afton Stake Tabernacle: Interior

 Here is an image of a funeral in the original tabernacle. A balcony went around three sides. At the front was a reed organ that actually had artificial pipes to look like a much more elaborate pipe organ. 

In the 1941 renovation, a new chapel was built on the north end and the original chapel space was repurposed to serve as classrooms and offices. Here is a picture of what the chapel looked like. It still was not traditional, with an off-center pulpit.

This is what the chapel looks like now with its 2009 renovation. The pipe organ was purchased from the Idaho Falls temple. The chapel looks much more elaborate now than it did before, although it doesn't come close to the original tabernacle interior. Still, I think it works well.

1 comment:

  1. I feel like that original style of pulpit was almost universal in early stake tabernacles (maybe pre-1900?), with the balcony joining with the pulpit. The St. George Tabernacle has a similar interior, I think Paris Idaho does as well. Ones like Montpelier, where the balcony is completely separate from the chapel seem quite rare. It seems common enough that, if I had to guess, I’d assume that the Provo Tabernacle or the Uintah Stake Tabernacle had similar layouts.

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