Hyrum First Ward: Interior

Since the Hyrum First Ward is privately owned, I couldn't take pictures of the interior. However, I did find a video that has an interview with the (at that time) owner, and included some photos of the chapel.

One blog reader actually pointed out this recent article on the Hyrum First Ward: https://www.hjnews.com/news/local/family-hosts-community-at-converted-hyrum-chapel/article_4fe97bf8-227e-5cb9-b89e-b7270f82c805.html.

It appears that while the rest of the building has been heavily remodeled to house occupants, the chapel itself has only undergone minor changes.

Hyrum First Ward: Exterior Details

Hyrum First Ward

Work on the Hyrum First Ward began in 1903, and it was completed in 1905.

(Image Source: LDS Church History Library)

This building is magnificent. An annex was built onto the west end in 1913. It was done in the late Gothic Revival style by an architect from Logan, Karl C. Schaub. It's stone foundation is four feet high.

(Image Source: LDS Church History Library)

The building appears in rough shape, but it is privately owned--and a lot to keep up. The brick has been painted white. It was donated to Hyrum City sometime in the 1970s; the city subsequently sold it at a silent auction. It's been used for a variety of purposes since then. It appears to be used as some type of a private residence right now. There were a lot of birds being kept in the yard.

One of the original entrances in the tower has been blocked off, but the other remains. I'll post some other pictures soon.

Idaho Falls Fifth Ward

This chapel was built in the late 1930s, with the chapel being completed in 1942. David O. McKay dedicated the building in 1945.

(Image Source: Church History Library)

The building is a wonderful example of the modern style, with some striking art deco elements. It has a plaster finish to give it a clean, white appearance.

The building has had some additions over the years, obscuring some of the chapel windows, but much of the details on the exterior remain.

Leamington Ward

Leamington is a small town that is west of the Juab Valley. It is settled along the south side of the Sevier River. In 1910, it had a lovely chapel built.

Around 1930, it had additional classrooms and an amusement hall connected onto it. Even by mid-century, most of the original stone in the chapel had been covered up (except on the corner tower), and the tower had also been simplified. This probably occurred around 1970, when the bell that was in the tower was removed.

The chapel was sold around 1986 to the city, and it now serves as the town hall. It can be reserved for events.

The best part of the building is still the corner tower. It has its original stone visible. The steeple has been heavily modified, though.

 

By peeking in the window, you can still see the chapel space that was used.

I'm sure that maintenance on this building is a heavy financial obligation for a small town. I'm glad they've been able to keep the building, though.

A History of LDS Temple Architecture: Part 6 - Remodels & Revision

Note: This is Part 6 in a series on the history of the development of LDS temple architecture. This series is based on my personal research and is a looser, less detailed, and less formal version of a paper that was presented at the 2015 BYU Religious Education Student Symposium. For a complete list of posts in this series, click here.

 In the study of how temple architecture has developed over the years, two of the most surprising facts are (1) How quickly the Church adjusted the endowment ceremony to a film version, without much documented pushback or concern about how the film dramatization would change how the ceremony is experienced, and (2) How quickly the changes were applied not only in new temples, but even in old temples, drastically changing their architecture, no matter their historic status. Most of this remodeling occurred beginning in the 1970s, but the idea for such changes began much earlier. As early as 1956, President McKay was pleased with the way the film ordinance turned out, and suggested that the crowds in the Salt Lake and Logan Temples--where patrons could wait a few hours before getting into a session--could "be overcome in part by introducing the more efficient way [film] of conducting the sessions." Elder Richard L. Evans, the next year, said that he was in favor of putting "in all the Temples the new presentation of the endowment ceremony."

In considering the changes that were made to these temples, we should consider the context of the Church at this period. Utah's population grew by over 50% between 1950 and 1970, causing a similar explosion in Church membership in many cities and towns. In 1969, the average temple district had 38 stakes; by 1979, it was up to 64 stakes each.

The Church was also rapidly expanding overseas and was dealing with the budgetary constraints that came with such growth. By 1959, increasing investments in Church education and the building program had led the Church to a shortage of cash. Thus, the emphasis in temple building relied heavily on temple renovations, which were seen as a better option to building an entirely new temple, particularly in an era when mostly larger temples had been built, especially in the Mormon corridor.

The Mesa Temple, before its current renovation began

Fortunately, these older temples escaped major renovations until the 1970s, when crowded conditions necessitated that something be done. It began in 1974 with the Mesa and St. George temples, which were closed in February and March of 1974, respectively. Both of these temples followed a similar remodel, with their creation, garden, and world rooms each becoming a stationary ordinance room. Theoretically, the murals on the walls could have been left intact (except for the front of the room, where the film would be shown), but it was decided that the murals made little sense without progression (technically true), and they were removed. In St. George, they were taken off and shipped to Salt Lake; in Mesa, the workers were specifically told that the murals would not be needed again, so they sometimes tore the mural off in pieces, destroying a lot of the art. The windows were tightly covered so that the film could be shown without light interference. In the case of St. George, an entirely new addition was built onto the west end to provide stairway access to the new ordinance rooms. Both of these temples were rededicated in 1975.

The St. George Temple's renovation added to the original temple's west side, as well as a new annex to the north

Next up was the Laie Hawaii Temple, which closed in May 1976. Apparently, temporary arrangements were already in place here for the filmed endowment--likely with a projector being set up in the rooms--but this renovation made it permanent, also taking away the progression of the temple.

The Laie Temple Renovation greatly expanded the original temple, which was very small

The most drastic change came to the Logan Temple. This was, in part, because of the Logan Temple's floor plan. The Laie, Mesa, and St. George Temples all had very slight elevation differences in their ordinance rooms, meaning that there were usually only a few stairs, if any, between rooms. This made it fairly simple to convert the ordinance rooms into stationary rooms, since they found a way to have patrons access the terrestrial room from whichever ordinance room they were in.

In the Logan Temple, this was all but impossible, because the ordinance rooms began on the first floor and ended on the third. There was simply no way to convert the creation or garden rooms into stationary rooms, because patrons would have no way of accessing the terrestrial room and the veil into the celestial rooms. This was the dilemma that Church architect Emil Fetzer encountered in 1974, the same year that St. George and Mesa closed, when he was asked to modify the Logan Temple. He eventually proposed removing all of the interior divisions so that he could form his own floor plan. This was submitted in February 1975, to the dismay of the First Presidency, who asked for additional time to consider the plan. It was approved in August 1975. In 1977, the temple closed, and by 1979 the new temple was completed. (It should be noted that even with an entirely new floor plan, the temple still uses a veil room. The temple's shape simply does not allow for multiple rooms to have convenient access to one celestial room.)

The Logan Temple during its gutting and renovation

The Logan Temple probably represented the peak of architecturally insensitive remodeling for the Church's temples. Idaho Falls, Cardston, and Manti kept their historic architecture, probably because they simply did not have the same crowds to require a drastic renovation during this time period. Idaho Falls had a renovation in the early 1970s, but no work was done in the ordinance rooms. Indeed, the Manti Temple closed for renovations only 2 years after the Logan Temple was rededicated, in 1981-85, and--in direct contrast to Logan--it was beautifully preserved. Cardston also had a lovely, sensitive renovation done in 1989-91. The Salt Lake Temple did have a major project done in the 1960s, but it wasn't changed to the film version--either because of its landmark status or because it was deemed unnecessary.

In 1980, the Church announced that new temples would use a standard, efficient plan that would reduce the costs of building them around the globe. The Los Angeles Temple began to use a stationary presentation of the endowment, even as it kept its progression rooms. The stationary presentation of the endowment had become the ordinance that the vast majority of Church members were now experiencing, void of any room-to-room progression at all. It would take another 2 decades for this to begin to once again change.

Cardston Temple

Note: This is one of a series of posts on the interiors and floor plans of historic temples:
1. St. George Temple (1877)
2. Logan Temple (1884)
3. Manti Temple (1888)
4. Salt Lake Temple (1893)
5. Laie Temple (1919)
6. Cardston Temple (1923)
7. Mesa Temple (1927)
8. Idaho Falls Temple (1945)

While I was tempted to write a post on the Cardston Temple years ago, I wanted to hold off until I had actually attended the temple myself so that I could experience it. This past summer, I was finally able to make the trip up to Cardston and attend the temple.

The temple, designed by Pope and Burton (and selected in a competition), rises above the city and the plains of southern Alberta as if it were some type of fortress. It's a lovely building. In my opinion, the Manti and the Cardston Temples are the two best examples of Mormon architecture in temples--especially in their preservation.

Symbols on the sidewalk outside the temple

The temple has been expanded significantly since its dedication in 1923, but the original rooms have been very well preserved. Upon entering the temple, patrons encounter a plaque with a poem by Orson F. Whitney that was written for the temple's dedication.

Inside the lobby is the original bas-relief of The Woman at the Well, by Torlief Knaphus. This was originally on the exterior of the temple, but it's now a part of the lobby. A large pool of water is still located at the base of the relief, and patrons go around this pool to get to the recommend desk.

As we get into the interior of the temple, I have collected images from a variety of sources: the August 1962 Improvement Era, the August 1974, July 1977, and July 1978 Ensign, and the 1991 copy of Canadian Architect to document this temple. Most of these images were available online in some form, but I found the originals and scanned them to get better-quality pictures.

The temple's floor plan is symbolic in and of itself. In the center of the original building is the baptistry (on the main floor) and the celestial room (on the upper floor). Around the baptistry are located the locker rooms and auxiliary functions; around the celestial room are the ordinance rooms of the endowment.

Cardston Temple Cutaway Sections (Image Source: Canadian Architect)

Starting with the first floor, patrons enter and go to locker rooms on either side of the baptistry. These locker rooms also have direct access to the baptistry, if needed. Patrons change, then go to the chapel, which also has a door at the front which leads to the baptistry.

Cardston Temple First Floor; north is up (Image Source: Canadian Architect)

The baptistry looks beautiful. Its oxen were also done by Torlief Knaphus. Knaphus is reported to have stated that he judged the baptismal font in the Alberta Temple to be his favorite font creation.

On the four sides of the walls are paintings done by A.B. Wright. He was a professor of art at the University of Utah. These paintings are show different dispensations, including those of Adam, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Joseph Smith. Plaques are beneath each painting. I've included each painting and its name below. There is a line down the middle from the page fold in the Ensign. You can click on the painting to see more of its details!

A note on the pictures of the murals: I was able to scan them using a hi-res scanner, but there's a line down the middle from the page fold. You can find line-free images of the paintings here, but the image is much smaller, and you can't see many of the details.

Adam Offering Sacrifice

Moses Leads Israel

The Baptism of Jesus Christ

Detail from The Baptism of Jesus Christ

Divine Authority Restored

Meanwhile, patrons in the chapel are also enjoying three panels done by A.B. Wright that line the walls; each depicting a scene and scripture from the Book of Mormon. On the left (north) side of the room, Mosiah 15 depicts Abinadi preaching to the people:

Mosiah 15

On the right (south) side, 2 Nephi 24:24 shows Nephi offering sacrifice:

2 Nephi 24:24

And at the front of the room (east side), 3 Nephi 18 shows Christ administering the sacrament in the new world. The curtains behind the pulpit are no longer there; now it's just a door.

3 Nephi 18

When it's time for the session to begin, patrons go up the northwest stairwell, head east past some sealing rooms, on to the north side of the temple to the Creation Room.

I couldn't find a published plan of the Cardston Temple's upper floor(s), so I drew a rough sketch myself, based on my memory from doing one session there (meaning it's very rough). This is also hard to show on paper, because the rooms for the endowment take up two floors--the creation room is one full floor below the celestial room.

Cardston Temple Second Floor; north is left (east is up)

1 - Staircase that patrons ascend to begin the session
2 - Creation Room (on middle floor); Sealing Rooms (on top floor)
3 - Garden Room
4 - World Room
5 - Terrestrial Room (on top floor); Sealing Rooms (on middle floor)
6 - Celestial Room

As you can see, patrons, begin on the east side of the temple, and then go around the celestial room in a clockwise manner, ascending a small staircase between each room, until they enter the celestial room itself. The floor plan of this temple therefore reinforces the concept of progression taught in the endowment. Beautiful leaded glass windows are on the left (outer wall) of each room, and instead of curtains, blinds on the exterior automatically come down and close when the film is presented.

The ordinance rooms also reinforce this pattern as each room gets more and more ornate, culminating the celestial and sealing rooms. This usually means that the wood gets darker as you progress through the ceremony.

Wood finishing in ordinance rooms. Clockwise from top left: creation room, garden room, world room, terrestrial room

The first room, the Creation room, is done in oak. Previous creation rooms sought to envelope patrons in the creation process, as if they were there; this temple's style called for a different setting. LeConte Stewart did these murals in the pointillist style, with small dots of color that create a larger picture. These are beautiful, and I wish I had more pictures of each one. Beneath each panel in this room is an excerpt from the account of the creation in the scriptures. This is done very effectively.

In the Beginning God Created the Heaven and the Earth

And God Said, Let There Be Light

Let the Waters be Gathered Together--Let the Dry Land Appear

And God Made Two Great Lights: The Greater Light to Rule the Day

One of my favorites in this room was the paintings in the back corner of the room; one depicting the sun ("And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day") and another depicting the moon and stars ("and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also"). You can see the corner of this nighttime scene in the small picture depicting the wood finishing in the creation room above.

The Garden room was painted by Lee Greene Richards. Birds-eye maple is used in all of the finishings here. At the front of the room, two cylindrical spaces are present (originally used during the live endowment), reminiscent of the trees found in the Garden of Eden. In these pictures there are curtains behind the altar, but now (as in the creation and world rooms) it's double doors that open up.

As patrons progress to the World (or Telestial) room, they notice darker wood (South American walnut) and a higher barrel ceiling.

The murals here were done by Edwin Evans (a professor of the Department of Art at the University of Utah) and his assistant, Florence Christensen. They included local scenery in the murals including Old Chief Mountain, Yellow Mountain, and Cameron Falls. The animals in these murals depict life in a fallen world. On the right side, a fox and a wolf are ready to devour a young lamb. At the front, a snake devours one bird while its partner flies away; and a jaguar has killed an impala.

The Terrestrial Room is very well done. Curved benches face toward the altar at the front of the room.

Curved benches in the terrestrial room

The wood paneling is done in African Mahogany. Three panels here were done by LeConte Stewart, depicting scenes in the life of Christ. On the left (east) side of the room, Christ suffers in Gethsemane. On the right (west) side of the room, Christ is shown walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And at the front of the room, above the veil, the resurrected Christ appears to Mary at the tomb. These are beautiful paintings, but I only have a picture of the front mural.

The Resurrected Lord Appears to Mary

Patrons then pass through the veil into the celestial room. The celestial room is in the center of the temple, with its ceiling higher than the other rooms, allowing leaded windows on all four sides. Each of the leaded windows has 144 small panes of glass, arranged in different colors and geometric patterns. This room is 40 feet square with a 36-foot ceiling. The richest wood yet, African mahogany, is used on the walls. I particularly loved the details on the ceiling, which you can barely see in this picture.

There are also three sealing rooms on this floor.

Patrons then exit on the east side of the room to return to the locker areas.

I really loved attending this temple. It's one of our finest examples of temple architecture and it's been really well preserved. If you're able, doing an endowment session here is a must--there's just so much to appreciate!