Scaled Model Provides Salt Lake Temple Open House Experience
More than a century has passed since the public open house was held for the Salt Lake Temple, but an exhibit featuring a 1:32 scaled replica of the Mormon temple opened this month that offers an open house experience of the magnificent building. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unveiled the 88-inch tall, near-identical replica of the temple in the South Visitors’ Center on Temple Square. The permanent exhibit will be open to the public.
“This replica will show the millions of visitors who come to Temple Square the beauty and majesty of this sacred and historic building,” said Elder Richard G. Hinckley, executive director of the Missionary Department. “Like all temples, once the building is dedicated it is used for sacred Church purposes and not open to the general public, but this exhibit will provide the public with a glimpse of the interior and a feeling of the Spirit that is present there.”
The Salt Lake Temple is a landmark known throughout the world. When it was last open to the public in April of 1893, the local press reported that approximately 5,000 people, most of whom were not members of the Church, toured the temple before the dedication. The reports went on to say that “altogether the richness and elegant workmanship of the temple was a revelation of wonder to the visitors.”
Extensive open houses have been held prior to the dedication of newly constructed temples throughout the world and allow visitors to walk through and experience the sacred structures. Once dedicated, temples are in continual, even daily, use by members of the Church for religious purposes. While public open houses for new temples regularly draw tens and even hundreds of thousands of people, millions will likely see this model of the Salt Lake Temple over its lifetime.
“Many people think our temples are like great halls or cathedrals. Actually, they have a number of rooms designed for certain functions such as marriages, baptisms and instructional sessions,” said Elder William R. Walker, executive director of the Church’s Temple Department.
The model of the Salt Lake Temple sits in front of a giant window in the South Visitors’ Center facing the actual building that it replicates. The south and east walls of the replica have been cut away to show depictions of many of the rooms in the temple, including the large assembly hall and rooms where the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles meet.
The baptistery and other ordinance rooms are also depicted. Close attention is paid to detail, and even paintings, furniture and working chandeliers and lamps imitate those found in the actual temple.
Peter McCann Architectural Models of Toronto was commissioned to create the replica last August. Sixteen modelers with different expertise in various parts of the duplication process worked on the project for five months.
“Some of the detail is so fine that we had to find people that were capable of doing it at that scale,” said Josh Coulas, manager of the project for Peter McCann Architectural Models.
In addition to the scaled model, the new display in the South Visitors’ Center features new kiosks that show high-definition photos and video of the Salt Lake Temple interior rooms. A narrator gives an explanation of the purpose of the rooms and a diagram shows where they are located on the model. The presentation is very similar to what a person would experience during the public open house of a temple.
“This new display will give people another reason to visit Temple Square for the first time or for the hundredth time,” said Elder Hinckley. “Because of its history and spiritual significance, this temple is beloved by millions and recognized as an icon of Mormonism throughout the world.”
Brigham Young designated the location for the Salt Lake Temple just days after the first group of pioneers came into the Salt Lake Valley. Construction began on the building in 1853 and was completed in 1893.
More than just a structure with a beautiful and functional design, the temple was central to the faith of the pioneers who settled the Salt Lake Valley. Latter-day Saint temples are considered houses of God, a place of holiness and peace separate from the preoccupations of the world. They provide a place where Church members make formal promises and commitments to God. They are also the place where the highest sacraments of the faith occur — the marriage of couples and the “sealing” of families for eternity.
Anyone, regardless of religion, may enter a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse and attend services. However, because of the sacredness of temples as “houses of the Lord,” only members of the Church who are in good standing are allowed to enter the temples. A member must be observing the basic principles of the faith and attest to that fact to his or her local leaders once every two years in order to enter a temple.
The Salt Lake Temple was the sixth temple built by the Church. Today there are 132 operating temples throughout the world.
To see pictures of the model, please to go lds.org.
***********************
Going ‘Green’ Not a Fad for LDS Church and Members
From 156 solar panels lining the roof of a Farmington, Utah meeting house, to the new LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified Church History Library in Salt Lake City, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is setting a “green” standard.
At the end of April, LDS church leaders unveiled a new eco-friendly stake center in Farmington, Utah.
“It’s about creating a place of worship that works in harmony with the environment,” said Bishop H. David Burton at the event where the designs were presented. “For decades we have looked for innovative ways to use natural resources in our meetinghouses that reflect our commitment as wise stewards of God’s creations.”
Outfitted with tank-less water heaters, energy efficient heating and cooling systems and motion-sensors to turn off lights when a room is not in use, the meeting house not only conserves energy but produces more than it uses with the help of solar panels affixed to the roof. Other features of the building include better insulation and a sprinkler system that uses underground sensors instead of a timer to determine water need. The Farmington meetinghouse achieved LEED-certification with its eco-friendly design, as did the new Church History Library in Salt Lake City that opened in June 2009.
Four other “green” meeting houses like the one in Farmington are being built: two in Nevada, one in Arizona and another in Utah. If the buildings prove successful, LDS leaders hope to build more churches that cut energy usage and cost and promote environmental consciousness. The Church is also considering that all existing meetinghouses be retrofitted with solar panels and other energy-conserving features. With 17,000 buildings already in operation throughout the world and 200 new ones built every year, LDS leaders are aware of the effect more “green” buildings could have.
These buildings are just part of a history the Church has in conservation; other efforts include a geothermal plant built in the 1980s to power a meetinghouse in California as well as rainwater conservation that has been practiced at Pacific Island meetinghouses since the 1950s.
While the Church does its part to conserve energy, individual members like Bryson Garbett are also making efforts to protect the environment through design and construction.
Garbett, president and CEO of Garbett Homes, jumped into construction at the age of 18, working with his brother as a framer. After serving a mission to Italy and graduating from the University of Utah in history, Garbett decided to stick with construction and started Garbett Homes. “It’s been almost 38 years now that I’ve been in construction and it’s all I know,” Garbett said.
Garbett’s company made the commitment to “green” at the end of 2008, when it was decided that all Garbett Homes would be or Energy Star certified, which means they are at least 15 percent more energy efficient than standard homes.
“We even have homes that go way beyond that,” Garbett said. “We provide homes now that we’re building in the Salt Lake Valley that have solar panels. … It reduces significantly what the operating expenses are.”
Garbett’s homes include multiple aspects that make them energy efficient, such as Low-E windows, which reflect summer’s high-angled sun rays and absorb winter’s low-angle rays. These changes came with “quite a bit of discussion and debate,” Garbett said, “because we have always done our building a certain way.”
However, three reasons tipped the scale for change. “Number one, I think we thought it was the right thing to do,” Garbett said. “And number two, we thought our buyers were ready for that. We sell to a lot of young couples and singles and they are very interested in buying products that are environmentally friendly and sustainable. We also wanted to set Garbett a little bit apart from other builders.”
The father of eight children and a newly called bishop, Garbett said he was “very pleased to hear” that the Church is taking advantage of energy conserving techniques because of the effect it has not only on the environment, but also on the ability to run meeting houses in parts of the world where power is more expensive.
“If it works here and they take it then to those places, it’ll help the members greatly in reducing the cost to operate our chapels,” Garbett said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Church doing more innovative things than that.”
On the Web: http://www.garbetthomes.com/
www.newsroom.lds.org/
