Architects, Angels and Enigmas

My engineer-husband accompanied me to the site this afternoon. 

You are wondering about the snow today in Provo.  Word is that spring has been delayed a week.

One lone machine pounded away at the cement from the NuSkin garage.

Parking is difficult at the site except on Center Street, so we walked around the block to check things out.

While we were there, the sun came out!  You can see the pit which was once the garage.  I believe the track hoe in the background is working on the NuSkin construction.

We saw some interesting things at the site.  First, there was a rocket launcher on the east side, between the tabernacle and University Avenue.  What did my husband think?   Well, he thought it was interesting.  That's engineer-speak for, "I have no idea."

Then we saw that the north lot has been excavated again.  New wood has been placed at the bottom of the retaining wall.  How deep is this going to be?  I've underestimated deepness before, so I'm not even going to venture a guess.

The rest of the lot was very quiet.   

This is a big lot to be completely quiet, by the way.  While we walked, water vapor rose from the melting snow on the lot.  My husband and I talked about the difference between steam, humidity and fog.
Welcome to my life.

It was eerie to see the machines, usually full of life and bouncing around, sitting silent and still.  Mr. Track Hoe, however, had parked himself on a hill before shutting down.

We noticed a new slab in the south lot, near University Avenue.  This post has a picture of the greenhouse which protected the slab while it was being built.

Some have asked about the design of the new temple.  While not trying to be pedantic, I have decided this might be a good time for a short history lesson.  This is a photo from the northwest of the current tabernacle, on the right side of this picture.  It was completed in 1898. An earlier tabernacle on the left was built in 1856.  A smaller building just to the right of the center of the picture housed the baptistery.  An earlier blog post explains more about these buildings.

The tabernacle built in 1898 originally had five towers, including a center tower.  In 1917 the center tower was removed because the roof was sagging.  Notice that the building was built before First South was constructed.

This is the tabernacle that people of this century knew and loved.

This is that view of the tabernacle today.

William Harrison Folsom, an early convert to the LDS Church, designed the Provo Tabernacle.

Brother Folsom also designed the Manti Temple, which was dedicated in 1888, ten years prior to the dedication of the Provo Tabernacle.  The Manti Temple is one of eight temples which does not have an Angel Moroni.  I have been told that the architects working on the new temple are attempting to be consistent  with the architecture of the Manti Temple and the 1898 Provo Tabernacle.

This is an early rendering of the Provo City Center Temple.  Notice the Angel Moroni on the center tower.  You might be interested in an unofficial 3-D view.

This rendering of the new temple currently hangs on the east side of the construction site fence. There is no angel in this picture, and no First South, either.

However, today I saw a different picture.  This hangs on the fence on the west side.  I likely stood right in front of this Tuesday while I was at the site, but at sunrise, in the dark, I did not notice it.

But this rendering has an angel on top.  Someone is messing with us.

This is today's view of the west side.  I'll be on the lookout for any Angel Moroni's.