“A Temple Renewed,” Ensign, Mar. 1993, 42
Salt Lake Temple
A Temple Renewed
As the Salt Lake Temple centennial nears, the inside and outside of the Lord’s House have been refurbished and renovated for this important milestone.
Anyone visiting Temple Square during the summer months of 1992 noticed that the majestic spires of the Salt Lake Temple were hidden by scaffolding (see photo on opposite page), and portions of the surrounding grounds were blocked off by construction equipment and workers. One hundred years bring a lot of wear to a building, and the Salt Lake Temple is no exception. Temple engineers and others have been renovating and refurbishing the temple’s interior and exterior in preparation for its centennial year. The scaffolding was necessary to reach all external areas of the walls and spires.
“It’s been an extensive project,” observed Ken Hacking, temple engineer and coordinator of the projects. Inside, new carpets have been laid, furniture restored and replaced where necessary, and heating and air conditioning systems upgraded. In addition, the cafeteria, lobby, clothing issue area, and children’s waiting areas have been extensively remodeled. New areas were created for a grooms’ locker room, lower lobby area, and audiovisual studio.
Photos on these two pages show some of the work done on the exterior of the temple. Approximately 150 stones were replaced with other granite stones from the same quarry used one hundred years ago. An additional 300 stones were resurfaced or patched. Where necessary, windows were repaired and the woodwork surrounding the windows was refinished. ([Photo] by Craig Dimond.) In addition, the large wooden temple doors were refinished. The statue of the angel Moroni was regilded (see photo above [photo by Scott Ray Christensen]), as was the inscription stone on the east central tower. Lighting on the temple was changed to metal halide lights to reduce power consumption and increase the beauty of the night view. The temple grounds were also beautified, with new sod and additional trees being planted. Twelve benches were added on the grounds for the comfort of temple patrons.
Some cracked and broken stones were cut away and replaced by other granite stones (photo by Mike Johnson).
Woodwork around windows was refinished (photo by Ken Hacking).
Original woodwork being stained (photo by Ken Hacking).
A worker smooths granite stone (photo by Ken Hacking).