FamilySearch Breaks Ground for New Center in Ogden, Utah

Contributed By FamilySearch.org

  • 13 January 2018

Artist rendering of the planned Ogden Utah FamilySearch Center.

Article Highlights

  • A FamilySearch center in Ogden, Utah, will open in the spring of 2019.
  • It will offer free fun and creative family history experiences for patrons of all ages.

FamilySearch held a groundbreaking ceremony January 8 for its new FamilySearch center in Ogden, Utah, on the corner of Grant Avenue and 22nd Street. When complete, the attraction will create fun, innovative family history experiences for patrons of all ages. The project is on a fast track to be completed in the spring of 2019. Admission will be free to the public.

Joining the past, present, and future

Elder Steven Merrill Petersen, an Area Seventy, overseeing the groundbreaking along with local dignitaries, noted that Ogden was once known as Junction City for those passing through the area. Ironically, he said the new Ogden FamilySearch Center “will serve as a junction between the past, present, and future. The center will serve everyone in the future to help them tie their past to the present. As we look back, we move forward.” He iterated that the center will be set in the heart of Ogden as a junction for everyone to gather, free of charge, to find their ancestors and to discover themselves.

The new facility will be another unique and exciting destination for locals, families, and youth groups, as well as for tourists of all ages visiting Ogden, Utah.

About the new facility

The Ogden FamilySearch Center, currently located at 539 24th Street, originally opened its doors in 1966 and will remain open during construction of the new facility. It has been one of the largest and busiest facilities in nonprofit FamilySearch’s network of over 5,000 family history centers worldwide. It will be one of only five locations offering interactive discovery experiences.

When complete, the new facility will span 12,000 square feet of space and offer free, world-class research services and fun, engaging activities designed to create personalized family discoveries. It will offer a unique gathering place for families with interactive and immersive discovery experiences for visitors of all ages, free access to online genealogical websites, and personal assistance. Many of the interactive features will use a patron’s family history in the FamilySearch Family Tree to create custom learning experiences.

Find your family today

“We’ve learned that if individuals and families have fun, personalized, quick successes and experiences with their family’s history, they will continue to be more involved at different levels throughout their lives,” said Diane Loosle, vice president of FamilySearch’s Help Division and director of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. “It also deepens appreciation for family connections across multiple generations.”

In anticipation of the new center’s opening in 2019, it is suggested that individuals and families take the time now, during construction, to create a free account at FamilySearch.org and begin building their family tree, adding favorite family stories and photos together. A developed family tree will enhance the interactive experience when the new FamilySearch center opens in 2019.

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