Payson First Ward: Interior

Long-time blog readers may remember how back in 2015, I highlighted the Payson Third Ward. Three years later, in 2018, I did a post on the exterior of the Payson First Ward, which shared the same original floor plan of the Third Ward. Since the Third Ward was demolished last year, I decided to finally document the interior of the first ward building.

This building has had many more additions than the third ward building, which makes me hopeful that it will be preserved. However, it only has one ward meeting in it (a huge anomaly for a chapel in Utah County), so the area definitely has seen a decline in membership.

Upon entering the west side, just like the third ward, there is a grand lobby. Stairs lead up to the chapel, while on either side, curved stairs go down to classrooms and offices.

The chapel has a really nice feel, with beautiful woodwork on the pulpit and striking art deco geometric patterns on the mouldings. I'll have some detailed pictures in my next post.

 

 

Springville Second Ward: Stained Glass Windows

Several years ago I talked about the Springville Second Ward, originally located near 400 S and Main in Springville, and which burned down in 2006. 4 of the stained glass windows were moved to the Dry Creek Stake in West Springville. I discovered that 2 more were in a chapel on Main Street in Payson.

To be clear, this is a completely modern chapel, and I'm unsure why it was selected to get 2 of the windows. It might have just been timing. I'm glad they were preserved. I'm unsure how many windows were in the original chapel. In the image I can find, there were at least 4 facing the street. We know 4 were preserved in Springville, and 2 in Payson, so that's 6 total. Perhaps there are more scattered around the area.

Preservation Update: St. George Flood Street Chapel Sold

I'm a bit behind on this one, but was saddened to hear that the St. George Flood Street Chapel (also known as the St. George 5th Ward) was sold in October.

I'm disappointed to hear this; the chapel, built in 1951, was really lovely, and I loved the placement of paintings on the front chapel wall. The building has already been sold, and it almost certainly will be demolished.

Preservation Update: Salt Lake 17th Ward

A couple of blog readers have reached out to me to notify me that the Salt Lake 17th Ward chapel, built in the 1960s, will be leased to the American Heritage School to use for education.

The chapel itself was built in the 1960s and is not my favorite, although I like its use of gothic arches to match the historic stained glass that was moved from the beautiful chapel it replaced. However, with the lease of the chapel, the ward meeting there will be moved to a nearby building. The stained glass is apparently going to stay there while the building is used as a school.

As always, I mostly hope that the stained glass will continue to be used in a place where it can be enjoyed by the public. However, I'd also love to see it remain in a chapel, since it kickstarted a trend of putting first vision windows in other chapels around the valley.

Mesa 2nd Ward: Interior Details

 The building has a courtyard where you can access different classrooms.

A couple of stained glass windows are still on display in the chapel.

The off-center pulpit has some beautiful designs!

So do the columns that line the chapel:

Finally, the stage in the cultural hall has a striking design:

Mesa 2nd Ward: Interior

I visited the Mesa 2nd Ward two years ago, but at that time couldn't get inside. This time when I visited Mesa I was able to document the interior.

And what a beautiful interior it is! A barreled ceiling descends to beautifully carved columns on the sides. At the front, the pulpit is off-center to the right while the sacrament table mirrors it on the right; behind, a beautiful vestry has organ pipes behind the grills.

Small stained glass windows are at the back and sides of the chapel. Other windows are above the columns, although some are blocked off from extensions to the building.

The cultural hall is perpendicular to the chapel on one side, so that's where the overflow is located.

 

I've got some more pictures I'll post soon.

Preservation Update: A Review of Lost Chapels

First, as has been noted on this blog by commentators, the Church has decided to keep the recently renovated Mesa Temple as a stationary presentation of the endowment. I have confirmed this with multiple people (although there is an altar in the creation room which makes it obvious). It seems that this decision was last-minute and boiled down to two reasons:

• Some leaders (who? the temple presidency? area presidency? First Presidency?) felt the wheelchair ramps took too long to operate. The front of the rooms all have an elevated rostrum with a step, and one of the steps can convert to a ramp. (The Salt Lake Temple did this in the terrestrial room.) I can't imagine it really took that long.
• Some leaders (again, who?) felt that having a session every hour was not often enough, and keeping a stationary presentation allows sessions every 45 minutes. 

While this development was discouraging, especially since the Church clearly put a lot of time and effort into making it so it could be progressive again--I'm just glad the renovation was done in such a way that progression could be restored very easily, if leaders become more sympathetic to the idea again. In the past year, the pendulum in terms of restoring original temple architecture and presentations has swung from hopeful to trying to limit the damage.

Second, there have been a few significant instances of chapels being razed or sold in the news recently that I wanted to review:

The Murray First Ward, which was no longer owned by the Church, was recently demolished.

The Payson First/Third Ward Chapel was sold this year, and the Church put a note in the contract saying that whoever bought the property was required to demolish the building. It was demolished in September. 

The Payson Second Ward, which is the oldest continuously used building in Payson and has some beautiful stained glass, was recently sold, and will likely be demolished soon.

The Ivans Ward (in Salt Lake City--1860 S, 300E), built in 1948, is being sold by the Church.

The Wells Ward, which apparently suffered some damage in the 2020 earthquake, recently had a farewell and will be sold by the Church. Some are worried the Church will insist that it be demolished as well.

The Logan Second Ward (which wasn't owned by the Church) was demolished.

The Farmington New Mexico Building, which has stained glass of Christ, was burned by arson and is still closed for renovation and repairs. Hopefully the stained glass is preserved. 

It's always disheartening to see how much historic architecture is still being demolished or sold. I anticipated that this trend will only continue, especially in areas of Salt Lake City and California where the presence of Church members continues to decline.