The Provo Tabernacle
The original Provo Tabernacle, located in Provo Utah, was constructed and funded in 1856 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The building was dedicated in 1867 by LDS prophet John Taylor and subsequently used as a meetinghouse for meetings and conferences, as well as a gathering place for social events. The building was too small to accommodate the needs of the Church so construction began in 1883 to build a larger tabernacle directly south, and the original one was demolished. William Folsom served as the Church architect for the second Provo Tabernacle. The Gothic architecture was chosen so that the structure would be styled after English Presbyterian buildings. The construction finished in 1886 at a cost of 100,000 dollars. Two years later George Q. Cannon, a member of the First Presidency of the LDS Church, dedicated the building.
The tabernacle was used for religious conferences as well as special events in the community such as graduations, funerals, and lectures by visitors. Prominent visitors include president William Howard Taft, violinist Fritz Kreisler, and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff. The building underwent numerous renovations during the years to be updated and accommodate larger audiences. The Provo Tabernacle was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
In December 2010, the tabernacle caught fire. The Provo Fire Department reported that the fire was an accident and was caused by a “technician setting a light fixture on a wooden speaker box in the attic.” The fire destroyed the building’s roof and interior. Fire Marshall Lynn Schofield estimated the losses from the fire equaled 15 million dollars. In October 2011, the LDS Church announced plans to restore the tabernacle, a meeting place for worship, into an LDS temple, a sacred building where members of the LDS church perform special forms of worship. The following year they undertook the huge task of engineering a temple from the gutted, barely free standing brick exterior of the original building. In 2016, the Provo Tabernacle was dedicated as the Provo City Center Temple.
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