New St. George FamilySearch Center Offers Fun Discoveries for All Ages

Contributed By FamilySearch.org

• 21 June 2017

At a FamilySearch center, a young girl enjoys discovering information about her family in a new, interactive way.

• Print
• Share 
  • E-mail
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

• Open to the public. Admission is free.

• For the best experience, set up a free account on FamilySearch.org before visiting the center.

• Groups should book a reservation online to ensure that space is available.

• Learn about the meaning of your name and where your family came from. See photos of family members and read their stories.

• Make high-definition recordings of family stories or scan family photos and slides for free; small fee required for printing and making photocopies.

• Free daily classes and access to sites like Ancestry.com.

Grandparents, parents, and children are now exploring their family trees together in fun and unique ways that were unimaginable just a few short years ago.

At the new St. George FamilySearch Center, located at 237 East 600 South, three generations of families huddle around 55-inch touch-screen monitors, discovering the stories and photos of their ancestors and discussing how their stories provide inspiration as they face their own daily challenges.

The open house for the new center will be June 22–24. The facility is free to the public.

Research, fun, and personal discovery

“The new St. George FamilySearch Center is designed to be a gathering place for families and those who desire to know and experience their personal and family history. It is a place to do research, but more importantly it is a place of personal discoveries,” said J. Kevin Ence, Area Seventy for the Church and local ecclesiastical leader for the St. George area. “As I have come to know my ancestors—who they are and what they have accomplished—the day-to-day challenges that I face have taken on a whole new perspective. Knowing what they were able to do gives me the strength and courage to face my own battles!”

Family members of all ages will love exploring the family room and children’s areas in the new 10,000-square-foot facility. They can play games together and learn family stories, such as how Grandma and Grandpa met and fell in love. Families and youth groups love creating or preserving favorite family stories and moments through free high-definition audio and video recordings, which can be emailed to them instantly.

Steve Rockwood, CEO of FamilySearch International, explained the attraction of the center: “St. George is such a wonderful, vibrant, growing community with historical significance. We are extremely excited to provide a FamilySearch center to its residents and visitors who will undoubtedly enjoy fun and memorable experiences discovering their families. We trust that it will be a great gathering place and yet another attraction in St. George for families to enjoy.”

Old history and new technology

Children can interview parents and grandparents in high-definition video in the studio recording rooms, and parents and grandparents can record fond memories with their posterity for future generations to remember and enjoy.

“This amazing facility will provide personalized family discovery experiences for each generation of the family. Our guests are excited and enthusiastic about their new family connections and enlightened and blessed by their ancestors’ stories,” explained Mickal Merrell, who with his wife, Linda, serves as an area temple and family history consultant.

Youth and groups will appreciate the inviting modern design, with casual seating and collaboration areas. Interactive learning stations will help them discover the meaning of their names and other interesting facts about their name and the year they were born.

Special equipment will also enable guests to transfer precious family memories they have on old VHS tapes to DVD. They can also digitally preserve printed family photos and scrapbooks to USB drives or upload them directly to their free FamilySearch.org accounts, where they can be preserved long term and more readily shared. All of these services are free.

It is recommended that guests create a free FamilySearch account at FamilySearch.org and begin building their family tree before their arrival. By creating a family tree online and adding family photos and stories before coming, you will be able to personalize and greatly enhance your visit to the new facility.

For additional information or to book group reservations, visit the center’s website here.

Following is the public open house schedule:

• Thursday, June 22, 2017, 1:00–7:00 p.m.

• Friday and Saturday, June 23–24, 2017, 10:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.

The center will officially open on Tuesday, June 27, 2017. Normal center hours will be Monday, Friday, and Saturday, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.

The center is located at 237 East 600 South, St. George, Utah.

The new FamilySearch center in St. George, Utah, offers fun discoveries for the entire family.

A family explores its family history together on a large touch-screen monitor at a FamilySearch center.

A group of friends enjoys exploring the new experiences in a FamilySearch center.

• Church Facilities, Family History