The Provo Temple Closes Saturday, Forever
The temples close annually for a couple weeks of deep cleaning and maintenance. Sometimes they close for a year or two of renovation. Very rare is for one of these buildings, which in their design and purpose point to eternity, to close and never open again. Saturday night the Provo Temple in Utah will close and never open again. Scheduling for the endowment rooms and baptistry for today (Thursday), Friday, and Saturday shows those spaces completely reserved.
After Saturday, the Provo Temple will be demolished, and to the west of where it will have formerly stood, the Provo Rock Canyon Temple will be erected.
Last April I was in Provo for BYU graduation ceremonies, and while I was in town I entered the Provo Temple one last time. I could not devote the hours to engage in ordinance work, but I stopped at the painted/sculpted mural of Jesus with the woman at Jacob’s well. After that I changed into white temple attire and went to the Celestial Room. After perhaps half an hour there, I continued to the floor with the sealing rooms and lingered another half hour. I had last been present in those spaces thirty-three years before, when I was finishing up as a BYU student.
I looked at the aged people around me who had been younger than my present age thirty-three years earlier. I thought of the aged people of that prior time, when I was young, who are now all dead.
I once noticed in the home of a friend a picture from her wedding day in 1993. There she was standing in front of the Provo Temple, which a year from now will only exist in pictures and memories and ordinances like hers.
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John Mansfield
February 22, 2024
A quorum brother asked if I know why the Provo temple will be rebuilt. I looked back at announcements regarding the reconstruction, and I could not find anywhere that a why was ever addressed. We can all propose answers to that question, but has anyone seen words from anyone with responsibility in the matter telling why the temple will be replaced?
G.
February 23, 2024
No, nothing.
I heard a rumor that it’s because the current Provo Temple is an unpopular wedding destination because it’s not considered scenic enough for photographs but I highly doubt that is the actual reason.
They are redoing the entire grounds including removing all of the existing old beautiful trees. Well the church building department is not nearly as concerned about preserving beauty as they should be, I have to think that redoing the entire grounds and shifting the location of the temple is part of the point of the rebuild, which makes me think it might be part of the current earthquake proofing initiative
John Mansfield
February 23, 2024
That is an intriguing possibility. Take a look at this map of the Wasatch Fault through Utah County.
ugspub.nr.utah.gov/publications/public_information/pi-11.pdf
A visual sign of the fault is a scarp, which makes for sharp elevation differences and scenic views. Earthquakes in geologic record have raised the east side of the fault as much as 20 feet at once relative to the west side. A description of the shift west says that it will reduce the slope to enter the temple.
G
February 23, 2024
We happen to be in Utah. I think we will go.
seriouslypleasedropit
February 23, 2024
beloved
Eric
February 23, 2024
I had thought the temple was going to be taken down to its foundation and rebuilt from there, in the same location as the original, the same way its sister temple in Ogden was.
Seismic refitting would make sense, though; the earthquakes caused by fault lines like the Wasatch Fault aren’t very frequent, but can be quite powerful when they happen. Geologists guess that the last major earthquake caused by that fault might have happened shortly before the pioneers first arrived in 1847, so another such quake could conceivably happen during this century.
As for weddings, yes, the Provo Temple was a very unpopular location. When I was in the BYU marching band my section leader got married there between semesters. She could basically pick any time of day she wanted and was treated like royalty by the temple workers; only one other couple was married there that same day.
However, Its lack of popularity for live weddings was offset by the demand for every other ordinance offered in the temple, which made it one of the busiest temples in the world.
John Mansfield
February 23, 2024
From Deseret News:
“The Ogden temple was stripped of its pre-cast ‘skin.’ In its place was a more vertical exterior of new stone with more glass. Church officials called it a major renovation that made it look like a brand-new temple.”
Evenstar
February 23, 2024
I took out my endowments at the Provo Temple so I’ve always had a soft spot for it.
I remember coming out of the temple one winter night and snow was falling into the fountain. The fountain was lit up so the snow falling into the fountain was as well. It was beautiful.
Marilyn
March 7, 2024
In this vein, here are my own reminiscences about the Provo Temple.
https://light-in-leaves.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-provo-temple.html
G.
March 7, 2024
That was lovely