Not Much Activity - Other than across the street

I have noticed very little activity on or around the Tabernacle block the last few days, it should be picking up as it gets closer to the May 12th Temple Ground Breaking Ceremony.

However, across the street at the Nu Skin Complex, today was the "Topping Off Ceremony" at the Nu Skin Innovation Center which is being build just west of the Nu Skin office and will occupy the remainder of the 1st West and Center street block sharing the back property with the Temple Grounds.  The ceremony consists of raising the last beam to the highest location on the building.  Since we are an international company, it is an European tradition that an evergreen tree "a symbol of growth and new life" be placed at the top of the beam.  The beam bares the signatures of any employee and company dignitary who wanted sign it, (mine is currently the 24th in longevity - 23 years as of last Tuesday!

I have attached pictures of the ceremony

The Old Boiler House and Smoke Stack are Gone!

As I mentioned previously there were 2 gentlemen in manlifts manually breaking down the smoke stack to the old boiler and furnace for the Tabernacle.  I arrived this morning to a large trackhoe tearing down the boiler building and the remaining 20 feet or so of the smoke stack.  I watched for a minute standing next to my truck parked in the parking terrace but soon realized that I would be dusted out so I moved up to a conference room above for a view. I suspect that Lisa's washing of my truck last week is now worthless!

See pictures below of the morning activities.  I have noticed also that they have moved more contruction trailers over on to the south lot, you can also see them in the pictures.  I beleive that things will really start to move soon.

Grounds clean up and prep

The current activity is the cleaning up of the grounds to the north and south of the Tabernacle also the dismantling of the smoke stack of the old boiler.  They have cleared and smoothed the area of the buried foundation and have moved over to the south side of 1st west to smooth the area that will be part of the parking area.  I noticed Friday that they have started to dismantle the old and smoke stack, I have included some pictures 2 of which are not really the view from my window but thought they would give you better perspective of the progress.

Temple Ground Breaking date set and old foundation is buried.

It is a snowy Spring day in Provo, welcome to Utah!  the church has announced the official ground breaking for the new Temple. (See Article below) Also the old Tabernacle foundation is officially covered.  They removed half of it to keep the stones and the other half they covered the floor in plastic then buired it.  See Below

LDS Church announces temple groundbreaking

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An artist's rendering of the Provo Tabernacle reconstructed as a temple. The tabernacle, gutted by fire in 2010, will be the second temple in Provo when completed. Ph: Intellectual Reserve

Related Links

• Related: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Related: History of the location of the Provo Tabernacle

PROVO -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Thursday that the official groundbreaking ceremony for the Provo City Center Temple will be at 9 a.m. on May 12.
Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will be the presiding authority.
Church spokesman Scott Trotter said people will need tickets to attend the actual ceremony, but it will be broadcast into stake centers in and around Provo. Tickets can be acquired through local church leaders within the new temple district. The new district boundaries have yet to be released.
Provo will be busy that day as the new Utah Valley Convention Center will hold its grand opening and open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. just two blocks from the temple groundbreaking.
Trotter did not specify how long construction will take or what the temple complex will look like; however he did indicate it would be typical to other temple construction timelines, which would put the Provo City Center Temple completed by or before 2015.
Mayor John Curtis said he has anticipated this day since the LDS Church announced the burned-out tabernacle would become a temple.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the enthusiasm at the groundbreaking exceeds the sense of loss at the time of the fire. The same neighbors that came together to mourn will now gather to celebrate," Curtis said.
Curtis added, "I would never call the fire a blessing, but we are very fortunate that the LDS Church has chosen to make the most out of the situation. The new temple will be a wonderful addition to the downtown area and a beautiful gateway into the city. This is indeed a gift to the community. Like the tabernacle before it, the new temple will touch the lives of thousands who will then carry special memories of Provo wherever they go throughout the world."
The Provo Tabernacle was gutted by fire on Dec. 17, 2010, after improperly stored sound and video equipment sparked an accidental blaze. Church officials deliberated the future of the burned-out landmark for several months before making a surprise announcement at general conference in October.
The temple campus will include property the church has acquired between 100 and 200 South and the closure of a portion of 100 South between University Avenue and 100 West.
Interest in the temple, its history and it relationship to the community has been heightened by the fire and subsequent temple announcement. A number of special projects have been held prior to the construction announcement.
For instance, the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences and The Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University are conducting oral history interviews and collecting stories about downtown Provo and the Provo Tabernacle. The project will document changes on Provo's Center Street and in the Provo Tabernacle over the years.
The BYU Office of Public Archeology and the LDS Church History Department have just concluded a five-month excavation, which unearthed the original foundation of the first tabernacle circa 1860. Senior art classes at BYU have selected the burned-out tabernacle as the subject for their senior projects and downtown art exhibit.
Once the temple is completed and dedicated, only members of the LDS Church with current temple recommends will be allowed inside.

Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/central/provo/lds-church-announces-temple-groundbreaking/article_6f458076-9ef3-536b-848d-72aa3bb26f86.html#ixzz1rH5SGgyX

Demolition on the foundation begins

I heard the sounds of heavy equipment from my office this afternoon and noticed that they have started demoliton of the Old Taberbacle Foundation. I do not know what was ever decided on saving the stones to give to Provo City.  I also noticed this morning that there were men who looked like engineers with charts and cameras getting ready to enter the burned out Tabernacle.  There have also been a couple of heavy duty Manlifts brought in the grounds. I can see a few gentlemen in white shirts walking the area so it looks like there is starting to be more action in regards to the future Temple.  There has been talk of a possible ground breaking for the Temple construction later in the month.

Update of the Tabernacle Progress

The word is that they are nearing the end of the research around the old Tabernacle foundation and will be burying it and getting ready for the Temple Ground Breaking.  I have included an article from the Provo Daily Herald about people wanting to preserve the foundation and a picture of articles found that they displayed on a table.  I do not want to cause a stir but will give a little personal commentary - I appreciate the old and the efforts of the research related to the old Tabernacle and to learn more of it's history, but most of us never knew anything about it and to leave it there in the middle of new Temple grounds will take away from what can be done to beautify the area. Sometimes history preservation gets in the way of progress!  Now I am off my soapbox :)

Article -

PROVO -- As a young girl, Raquel Smith Callis found solace reading under a big sycamore tree at the Provo Tabernacle park grounds. She called it her Promising Tree. As a college student she often found her way to the tree to collect bark, leaves and other clean litter to create art. In October a backhoe ripped out the sycamore so archaeologists could unearth the foundation of the city's first tabernacle. Now Smith Callis and others are working to save that foundation from the same backhoe, including circulating a petition inviting residents to request that the foundation be left intact.

On Tuesday The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that it is unearthing the foundation in preparation for the temple groundbreaking. The foundation will be donated to the city to be used elsewhere to remind residents and visitors about the area's pioneer heritage. The church plans to offer the foundation rocks to the city for its use. The city now has to figure out what it's going to do and how much it is going to cost.

"The date of the temple groundbreaking is pending," church spokesman Scott Trotter said. "Artifacts from the excavation will be displayed at BYU once they are processed and documented."

As of yet the LDS Church has not made application to the city for a building permit that would detail the plans for the Provo City Center Temple. Smith Callis and others are hoping the petition and a community picnic doubling as a peaceful demonstration Thursday will get the attention of the LDS Church leadership and city leaders to their desire to leave the foundation site intact and in place.

According to the State Historical Society, the definition of preservation is keeping what it is where it's at. To move the stones or dismantle walls and steps would take away the historical value.

"We're hoping a compromise could be made," Smith Callis said. "I value local history, and to see it unearthed is amazing."

Smith Callis added that her emotional attachment increased after taking a tour with more than 100 others on Tuesday evening. The tour guide indicated the roots of Smith Callis's tree grew so as not to disturb the foundation. Smith Callis sees it as sign of the importance of the site.

"All that time I was sitting on top of this," she said. "If this was in Salt Lake it would be preserved."

Susan Krueger-Barber was on that same tour. She immediately started plans for a petition to keep the foundation at the site.

"I want to see if they would even preserve just one wall," Krueger-Barber said. "I want to see if people care. It's valuable to keep for the history of our town."

Some ways of using the foundation include making a step-down garden to memorialize the people who used their hands to build it, according to Krueger-Barber.

Smith Callis added she wants her children to be able to put their hands on the stones of history. "We must somehow preserve a way for our children to connect to their heritage."

According to Rich Talbot, director of the Office of Public Archaeology at Brigham Young University, preserving it as way for children to connect to their heritage was one reason LDS President Brigham Young had them build it in the manner it was in the first place.

"Brigham Young wanted the youth to see the heritage of their parents," Talbot said.

However, Talbot also said, "There is nothing that would add to the spirit of a temple more than showing what the pioneers built. As a temple experience people are able to step down and touch the walls and understand how important the meeting house was."

Provo Councilman Sterling Beck said he has been to the site a couple of times.

"I took my Scouts there a couple of weeks ago." He said the big question is if the Provo Historical Preservation Committee had the ability to keep the foundation on the church's property.

Area residents interested in joining the picnic at the tabernacle are invited to bring their blankets and food and meet between 5:30 and 8 p.m. Thursday

Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/central/provo/provo-residents-petition-to-save-old-tabernacle-site/article_ff83b13a-0e92-59c9-b788-72acdacc2061.html#ixzz1qdJjDPdx

Church releases the name of the new Temple in Provo

Here is an article that was in the Provo Daily Herald newspaper -

It's not the templenacle: New Provo temple named

PROVO -- After months of speculation and guessing games The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has confirmed the official name of the new Provo temple.

"The name of the temple is the Provo City Center Temple," church spokesman Scott Trotter said.

While official construction and completion dates have yet to be announced, Jacobsen Construction has been named as the contractor for the building. Excavation of the 1800s meeting house just north of the tabernacle is nearly completed.

Last week the city approved surplusing 100 South adjacent to the land owned by the church to the north and south. The church anticipates acquiring that property and the Nu Skin parking garage west of the tabernacle. Nu Skin officials also have announced a new parking facility farther west on 100 South for their employees.

The Provo City Center Temple will be the second temple in Provo. The Provo Temple sits northeast of Brigham Young University and directly east of the Missionary Training Center.