Groundbreaking May 12th, 2012

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Provo City Center Temple was held May 12th, 2012. Many thanks to photographer Michael Witham for these photos.

 

The crowd filled the block, with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stating that they were so close to history they didn't realize they were making it.  He explained that those present were the last and largest congregation which would ever be gathered on this site.

The speakers assembled on a platform built on the north side of the tabernacle shell. An artist's rendition of the new temple was in place.

Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy, right, said the announcement of the temple was, "an inspired decision I am sure all of you are thrilled about."

Elder Cecil O. Samuelson, president of Brigham Young University, left, said that he recognized the rebirth of the Provo Tabernacle into a temple. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, former BYU President, is in the center, and his son, Matthew Holland, president of Utah Valley University, is on the right.

Elder Whitney L. Clayton spoke of the sad hearts when the tabernacle burned.  He said, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
He compared the building of a temple to our personal growth as we move toward God.

Patricia Holland told of the recent dedication of the Kansas City Temple, which is six miles from Liberty Jail and is within an hour’s drive from Adam-Ondi-Ahman and Haun’s Mill.  She observed that temples rise from the ashes of trial. “Temples are sanctuaries from any devastation that will ever storm about us,”  and added, “Everything in the temple is symbolic of the life of Jesus Christ."

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was the last speaker and began his remarks by saying, “A picture perfect day in Utah County!”  He was thrilled with the symbolism of two temples just a mile apart and added, speaking of the tabernacle, “No other structure in Utah County has had such a varied history."  William Howard Taft spoke in the tabernacle, funerals have been conducted here, and there has been a century of stake conferences held in the building.  Elder Holland quoted Abraham O. Smoot, who dedicated the Provo Tabernacle in 1885.  At that time Elder Smoot prophetically said that the tabernacle would be a place, “for the gathering and learning of the ways of the Lord.”  During the groundbreaking  ordinance, Elder Holland prayed for the safety of the workers.

Congressman Jason Chaffetz, Senator Mike Lee, Elder Holland and Governor Gary Herbert turned shovels of dirt.

Stake presidents from the temple district were invited to help with the groundbreaking.

Elder Walker said, "Faithful members here made this possible."  After the completion of the Oquirrh Mountain and Draper Temples, the Provo Temple became the busiest temple in the Church.

Elder Clayton said we should, "have the temple reflected inside and outside our souls in everything we do."

Front Loader at the Old Tabernacle

 These northern stones of the old tabernacle foundation

are all that remain in the ground.

 Burying the foundation is now in progress.

Soil removed for the archaeological dig

is being used to cover the stones.

Burying The Old Tabernacle's Foundation

Workmen were busy this week
cleaning up after the archaeological dig.

This orange paint marks the line to where the foundation will be removed.

The paint is barely visible in the center of this photo.
Once the stone is taken out,
the north portion of the foundation will be buried.
The LDS Church will give the stones to Provo City.

First Tabernacle in Provo

The tabernacle grounds in Provo are
being prepared for the new temple.

An older building was built before the newer tabernacle,
which was completed in 1898 but burned in 2010.

The remains of the older building lie
directly north of the tabernacle.
This photo looks east.
Construction on the older tabernacle began in 1856
and took 11 years to complete.
At that time the building was already too small.
It was torn down in 1919.

Ground-penetrating radar indicated where the foundation
of the old tabernacle was buried.

This picture was taken at the north side of the foundation.
The building, seen from the north in this photo,
had a basement which could be entered from either side.
The foundation walls can be seen here.
They were originally 12 feet high.
This space in front of the foundation wall
was reached by the stairwells seen in the photo above.
Of the two sets of stairs which led into the basement,
only the west steps remain.
The eastern stones were missing when
the archaeologists dug down.
The archaeologists believe this north section of the basement
was used to store coal to heat the building.
Traces of coal remained,
and the coal dust appeared to have filtered through
a wooden floor, which has completely deteriorated.
A closer look shows the gray color from the coal dust,
which left a layer of its own for the archaeologists to uncover.Rock from the foundation walls was removed
from the basement by the archaeologists.
The early pioneers quarried these large stones for the basement.

Two center stone walls helped support the building.
The wooden floor joists rested
on top of stone foundation walls rising from the basement.
There is no evidence that this portion
of the basement had a wooden floor of its own.

These round stones supported large wooden columns

which held up two balconies on the east and west sides of the building.

The archaeologists were all BYU archaeology majors,
graduate students, or interns.
There were no novices involved with the dig,
except for the opinions expressed by the onlookers.

Thousands of nails have been excavated,
including this one which was recovered while I watched.

Some of the nails were quite large.

Slate pencils were found in a lower level of the dig,
separated from more recent items
which were likely not associated with the use of the building.

These jewelry items were also found.

Among the recovered items was this 1892 silver dime.

The indentation in a brick is called a frog.

The fountain pen has an intact writing nib.

Several horseshoes were found.

And a bullet.

I could not identify this disc.

The archaeologist didn't know what it was, either.

I wondered if it was a canning lid,
but I could not find a match online.  Edit in March 2014:  a reader has identified this as an internal part of an oil lamp.

Some of the items in this photo involve electricity.
The basement had electric lights during its last 10 years of operation.

All of the dirt from the foundation has been sifted.
The dig closed at the end of March in preparation
for the groundbreaking of the temple.