UTAH – The historic Provo Tabernacle, severely damaged by a fire in 2010, has since been rebuilt and transformed into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ 16th Utah temple. The Mormon Church released the first photos Wednesday of the interior of the temple, which is set to be dedicated in March.
Photos released of the new interior include images of the pulpit salvaged from the charred tabernacle that was restored and returned to become part of the temple chapel, the celestial room and the bridal room, among others.
Free tours of the building are expected to run from Jan. 15 through March 5. A high demand for open house tickets caused the reservation website to crash shortly after the tickets were made available Monday at 10 a.m., according to Fox 13.
The Mormon Newsroom released the following ticket update Wednesday:
Because of high demand, the Church is releasing tickets incrementally and none are currently available. However, more tickets will be made available through the registration system in the coming days.
The temple’s open house has been highly anticipated since its construction was announced in October 2011 on the heels of a fire that destroyed the original building.
On Dec. 17, 2010, after standing unharmed for 125 years, flames engulfed the Provo Tabernacle building in the middle of the night – “ripping through wooden pews, organ pipes, a rented Fazioli piano, priceless pioneer craftsmanship, and original pieces of art,” according to the LDS Church.
It was determined that the blaze was set into action after a lighting technician mistakenly set a 300-watt light fixture on a wooden speaker box in the attic without removing the bulb. When the lights came on with the rest of the house lights, the hot bulb ignited the speaker box, causing an estimated $15 million in damage to the building.
Ten months later, LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson announced the remains of the tabernacle would be rebuilt and converted into a second temple for the city of Provo. The Provo City Center Temple is the fourth temple built from an existing building and the second built from a tabernacle, following the Vernal Utah Temple in 1997.
The reconstruction and transformation of the building took place from 2012 through 2015. Now, rising from the ashes of the historic tabernacle, using the structure’s restored exterior walls, the temple is ready for visitors and will open its doors to the public next week.
Additional reservations for the open house will be available Jan. 11, at 6 p.m. Tickets can be reserved online or by calling 855-537-2000.
The temple is scheduled to be dedicated on March 20.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
The fire began when a lighting crew preparing for a Christmas performance moved a hot lamp onto a speaker box in the attic. After everyone left the building, the lamp ignited the speaker, and the fire quickly spread, Provo Tabernacle, Provo, Utah, December 2010 | Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George News
The fire began when a lighting crew preparing for a Christmas performance moved a hot lamp onto a speaker box in the attic. After everyone left the building, the lamp ignited the speaker, and the fire quickly spread, Provo Tabernacle, Provo, Utah, December 2010 | Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George News
The tabernacle’s pulpit was salvaged from the fire, restored and returned to the temple chapel, Provo City Center Temple, Provo, Utah, January 2016 | Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George News
The tabernacle’s newel post survived the fire. Replicas are now part of staircases in the Provo City Center Temple, Provo, Utah, January 2016 | Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George News
The tabernacle’s newel post survived the fire. Replicas are now part of staircases in the Provo City Center Temple, Provo, Utah, January 2016 | Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George News
As workers peeled away paint and plaster from the burned walls, they uncovered a layer of painted plaster. The stenciled designs were pieced together using historic photographs as a guide. The design now appears again as a motif in the bride’s dressing room of the Provo City Center Temple, Provo, Utah, January 2016 | Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George News
As workers peeled away paint and plaster from the burned walls, they uncovered a layer of painted plaster. The stenciled designs were pieced together using historic photographs as a guide. The design now appears again as a motif in the bride’s dressing room of the Provo City Center Temple, Provo, Utah, January 2016 | Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George News
About 80 stained-glass windows survived the fire. Motifs in the salvaged windows inspired new designs in the woodwork and windows of the Provo City Center Temple, Provo, Utah, January 2016 | Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George News
About 80 stained-glass windows survived the fire. Motifs in the salvaged windows inspired new designs in the woodwork and windows of the Provo City Center Temple, Provo, Utah, January 2016 | Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George News
Colors and furnishings in the celestial room of the Provo City Center Temple remind visitors of past generations who worshipped here, Provo City Center Temple, Provo, Utah, January 2016 | Photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. George News
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Absolutely beautiful, spectacular, expensive! Who cares? Maybe the Bundy’s should attend the grand opening. ..yawn
Careful you almost woke me up. Yawwwwwwwwn
Such a palace for the Mormon royalty…now if they’d just get their idiot sons out of Oregon…
Very beautiful and opulent. I’m glad I wasn’t part of footing the bill. I’d rather have pretty decor in my own home where I can enjoy it every day.
Hey Mormons when you were building this shrine (that only a select few will be able to enter or use, btw) to your pedophile “prophet” Joseph Smith did you ever consider that there are thousands of homeless men, women and children right here in Utah that could’ve used that money? It is the LDS “Church” right? and You are “Christians, Aren’t you? And you do believe in the teaching of the Bible, right? If so you may want to consider these verses:
” Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me”. Matthew 19:21
“Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.” Deuteronomy 15:10-11
For those of you who disagree, why don’t you tell me a little bit more about how God changed his mind
Looks like the waiting room of a funeral home.
It’s beautiful but dang that money could help fund a God based rehab program for all the drug addicts in this town!
Looks like a meeting room for Mormon pedophiles