New Temple in Provo: December 2014

I was delighted to see new windows at the temple today, but then there is always something new.

Over two years ago, in August of 2012, the tabernacle was surrounded with exterior supports.

Remember worrying about the future of the tower roofs?

By the end of September, 2012, rebar and shotcrete were reinforcing the interior.

By the end of October, 2012, some of the exterior braces were coming down.

I remember doing my best to get my camera high enough so we could peek inside the building over the construction fence.

Now I'm doing my best to see the outside through the scaffolding.

By January, 2013, piers had been placed under the brick shell and excavation began.

At that time, I didn't realize the piers were 90 feet deep. I want you to notice the two windows at each side of the east gable wall. These openings, reinforced with rebar and shotcrete, will be part of instruction rooms. While they now have art glass in them, they won't let light into the temple.

The piers turned the new temple into a giant balancing act. Literally, it stopped traffic and was all anyone in town could talk about for months, not to mention that the temple engineers weren't getting much sleep.

None of us knew how deep the excavation was going to go.

I took this picture on March 30th, 2013. Over the next few months, all the dirt surrounding the tabernacle was hauled off to the airport area for fill.

Today it appears that the temple is floating in a sea of icebergs.

Huge cranes arrived at the site in March, 2013. Those were the days...

Forms for a new foundation were built.

Men worked day and night through the summer of 2013 to build the new foundation.

This afternoon I took a picture of the northeast tower entrance. I bet you had forgotten all the work which has gone on below.

By August, 2013, the piers were removed. Happy times, for sure.

In early December, 2013, the steeple was lifted up. I don't even have to go back to that post to remember it was 18 degrees that day. It was 20 this afternoon.

By Christmas Eve, 2013, the foundation was finally completed. Notice the little square openings in the plywood in the lower windows along the south face. The ground floor is lower than we think, and a man standing up can look out those openings.

The 2010 fire destroyed three of the gables, but they were rebuilt as the roof was constructed.

The south lot looked like this last winter.

One year ago, the roof over the north underground annex had been completed, and decking for the underground garages started to spread.

Today, the west lot is being landscaped.

It has taken a year to build the underground pavilion and the south underground garage.

There have been many memorable events this past year, but Moroni's arrival was by far my favorite.

I will confess that my favorite grandchild is the one I'm holding, my favorite song is the one I'm singing, and right now, I'm in love with the windows.

I was intrigued watching the men install this new window in the south gable.

In this case, I could not see the special lift which was helping out until I got back to my warm house and looked at the pictures.

By the time I got to the south lot, they were almost finished.

The entrance to the underground garage is being dried out after a recent snow storm so it can be poured.

Progress is being made on a new sidewalk along the north lot. A large circle of concrete was poured earlier this month and is under the snow in front of me.