TEMPLE BLOCK
{201} Marvelous as was the achievement of the people in rearing the
great Temple, and particularly so in the commencement of the work under
conditions that appeared so generally unfavorable, the undertaking
becomes even more remarkable when we take into consideration other
building-work carried on while the Temple was in course of erection.
Not only were three other Temples begun and completed during this
period, but meeting-houses were reared all in the various wards and
stakes, and other structures of yet greater capacity were erected for
assemblies of the Church in general. The buildings constructed on
Temple Block in Salt Lake City represent in and of themselves great
undertakings when considered in the light of circumstances prevailing
at the time. Among such buildings are the existing Tabernacle; the
structure long since removed and now referred to as the Old Tabernacle,
and the Assembly Hall.
It is interesting to know that the first shelters erected for public
gatherings within what is now Salt Lake City were boweries; among these
the Old Bowery is distinctively named and known. On the 31st of July,
1847--but one week after the arrival of the pioneers in the valley of
the Great Salt Lake, a detachment of the Mormon {202} Battalion,[1]
which had just reached the settlement, or as it was even then called,
the city, built for the accommodation of worshipping assemblies a
bowery of poles and brush. This in time was superseded by a yet larger
structure of the kind, one hundred feet by sixty feet, which came to be
known in local history as the Old Bowery. It consisted of posts set up
at convenient intervals around the sides of a quadrangle, the tops of
the posts being joined by poles held in place by wooden pegs or lashed
in position by rawhide thongs, and upon this skeleton-roof, willows,
evergreens, sagebrush, and other shrubs were piled, resulting in a
covering which was a partial protection from the sun, though but a poor
barrier against wind and rain.
_The old Tabernacle_: At first this building was known as the
Tabernacle; since the erection of the present building bearing that
name, the earlier structure has come to be known as the Old Tabernacle.
It was one hundred and twenty-six feet in length by sixty-four feet
in width, and occupied the site of the present Assembly Hall in the
south-west corner of Temple Block. For its day and time it was a large
and pretentious building. As to its seating capacity, we read that at
the time of its dedication during the April conference of 1852, there
were twenty-five hundred persons present at one session. Its ceiling
was {203} arched and was supported without pillars. Many of the posts
and poles of the Old Bowery entered into the construction of the Old
Tabernacle.[2]
_The Tabernacle_: The building now so known was distinctively
designated the New Tabernacle at the time of its construction. It
was begun in July, 1864, and was so far advanced as to permit the
holding of the general conference beneath its roof in October, 1867.
This remarkable structure was planned and erected under the direction
of President Brigham Young. For it no claim of architectural beauty
is asserted; the general appearance is that of a huge inverted bowl
resting on pillars. It is in truth a vast elliptical dome supported
at the edge by massive sandstone walls and buttresses. The buttresses
measure nine feet in width or depth and three feet in thickness.
The space between the buttresses is occupied by doors, windows, and
walls; the doors open outward, thus affording ready means of exit. The
building measures two hundred and fifty feet in length and one hundred
and fifty feet in width at the center. The ceiling is seventy feet from
the floor in the middle; and from the ceiling to roof the distance is
ten feet. A capacious gallery, thirty feet wide, extends along the
inner walls and is broken at the west end only, where it gives place to
the grand organ and the seats reserved for the great choir. In contrast
with the usual methods of construction this enormous {204} gallery is
not continuous with the walls. At intervals of twelve to fifteen feet
great beams connect the gallery with the wall buttresses, but between
these beams the gallery is set forward two and one-half feet from the
inside of the walls and the open spaces are guarded by a high railing.
It is believed that the surprising acoustic properties of the building
are due in part to this feature of construction; the great dome is,
in fact, a colossal whispering gallery, as the hundreds of thousands
of visitors who have inspected the building know. When it is emptied
save for the few, the fall of a pin dropped at the focal point of the
ellipse near one end of the building may be heard at the corresponding
point near the other end. The convenient seating capacity of the
building, including that of the gallery, is nearly nine thousand,
though under conditions of crowding, congregations much larger than
this have assembled.
At the west end are the stands including the pulpits. There are really
three pulpits rising in tiers or terraces; these afford accommodations
for the Church officers of different grades in authority. On either
side of the pulpit-terraces are extended platforms for other bodies of
Priesthood. Behind the stands and pulpits, rising on either side to
the level of the gallery and occupying the space in front of the great
organ, is the choir space, seated to accommodate approximately three
hundred singers, with extra provision in the gallery for nearly as many
more.
At the west end of the building is the great organ, generally admitted
to be one of the best instruments of its class ever built. At the time
of its construction it was the largest organ in this country and the
second or third {205} largest in the world. One of the many surprising
features connected with the instrument lies in the fact of its having
been constructed by local artisans; the woodwork, including pipe and
mechanical equipment, is wholly of native material. The organ occupies
a floor-space of thirty-three by thirty feet, and rises to a height
of forty feet for the body of the organ itself, while the towers in
front reach a height of forty-eight feet. Its stops and regulators
number one hundred and ten; it contains over three thousand six hundred
pipes, which range from half an inch to thirty-two feet in speaking
length. There are four complete finger key-boards and one pedal system,
making in all five individual organs. In size and proportions the organ
comports with the great building in which it is installed; while in
tonal quality and mechanical equipment it is of an order of excellence
corresponding to the other appointments of this splendid auditorium.
The domed roof is constructed on the principle of lattice-work support,
and is self-sustaining throughout its entire extent, there being no
pillars between ceiling and floor. The roof-work is of wood, and at
the time of its construction the beams and trusses were held together
by wooden pegs and rewhide thongs. These materials were used instead
of nails from necessity rather than from choice; nails were obtainable
only as new supplies were brought in by prairie wagons, and the cost
of the long haul precluded their use. While at present there are many
larger roof-spans in the great buildings of the country, most of the
more recent structures are of steel; and it is doubtful if ever there
has been made a more stable structure of its kind consisting wholly of
wood.
_The Assembly Hall_: In the south-west corner of {206} Temple Block
stands the Assembly Hall, a substantial structure designed for
congregations of smaller size than those requiring the great Tabernacle
auditorium. During the summer of 1877 the Old Tabernacle, about which
so many pleasant memories had clustered, was removed to make room for
the new building. The Assembly Hall was begun in the year named, and,
though meetings were held in the unfinished structure, it was not until
1882 that the building was ready for dedication. The edifice is one
hundred and twenty by sixty-eight feet, including the extreme recesses.
The walls are of granite from the quarries in Cottonwood canyon.
_General Service Plant_: All the buildings at present occupying Temple
Block, together with many others on adjoining squares, are supplied
with steam, hot-water, and electric current for light, heat, and power,
from an independent plant situated near the middle of the city square
immediately west from Temple Block. From this plant great subterranean
tunnels lead to the several buildings connected therewith. The main
tunnel is six feet six inches in height, by five feet six inches in
width; through this run all pipes for steam and water, ammonia pipes
for cooling purposes, and, in addition, a full equipment of electric
conductors. The diverging branch-tunnels are each six feet six inches
by four feet. The buildings supplied from this plant with electric
light, heat, and power, and with steam and hot water, are the following:
1. All the buildings on Temple Block, comprising the great Temple and
its accessories, viz., the Annex, the conservatory, the gate house or
porter's cottage, the Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, and the Bureau of
Information.
{207} 2. All the buildings belonging to the Latter-day Saints'
University, comprising the Business College, Barratt Hall, the Brigham
Young Memorial Building, and the Lion House.
3. The Bishop's Building, and the old Tithing Office or Bishop's Store
House, now used for work in connection with the Latter-day Saints'
University.
4. The Deseret Gymnasium.
5. The offices of the First Presidency of the Church, together with the
official residence of the President, known as the Bee Hive House. These
buildings are situated at a distance of two and one-half city squares
from the main plant.
6. The large and famous hostelry, the Hotel Utah.
7. The Deseret News Building and the Deseret News Annex.
8. The Vermont Building.
9. The Sharon Building, and several other smaller structures.
The entire length of the tunnel system is over fourteen hundred feet,
and the tunnels are constructed of reinforced concrete with walls six
inches thick. From this brief and partial description, it will be seen
that the equipment of buildings occupying or adjoining Temple Block, is
commensurate and adequate.
FOOTNOTES
1. The Mormon Battalion was a body of five hundred men furnished by the
migrating people on demand of the general government to assist in the
war between the United States and Mexico. The Battalion was mustered
into service in July, 1846, and formed part of the forces commanded
by General Stephen F. Kearney. The main part of the Battalion marched
from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe, and arrived in southern California
during January, 1847. A detachment from this band, comprising those who
had become disabled while on the march, had wintered at Pueblo; this
body reached Salt Lake Valley in July, 1847, but a few days after the
entrance of the Pioneers.
2. Descriptions of the Old Tabernacle and accounts of the proceedings
incident to its dedication and opening for public use appear in the
"Deseret News" of that time, April, 1852. Reprints in part appear in
the "Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star," Vol. XIV, Nos. 22 and 23,
July 24th and 31st, 1852. These accounts comprise also synopses of
the minutes of the general conference of the Church for that year and
include the dedicatory prayer.