Knock Knock

New doors have been hung at the north entrance.

This might be my last chance to peek in.

I never want to miss an opportunity.

The temple has come a long way since the fire. 
I took this picture in March of 2012, before I had decided to create this blog.

Five months later, in September of 2012, I took this picture which shows the exterior braces supporting the brick and the interior shotcrete which covers rebar.

A picture from this morning shows the result of more than three years of hard work.  The stairs are beautiful quartzitic sandstone. Dark wood on the inside of the door can be seen.

Painters worked on new doors at the east entrance.

The east side has come a long way in twelve months.

No one misses the scaffolding.

All the towers have been restored.

They were in pretty sad shape after the fire.

Two years ago the north annex was under construction.

A year later it was covered up.

Today, no one would ever guess what is below.

North of the underground annex are the remains of the foundation of the original tabernacle.

Some of the foundation stones were relocated.

This sycamore tree has been on the grounds for a very long time.

Now that all the construction trailers are gone, it is thriving.  The lintel stone from the old tabernacle rests on the temple site, shown in the lower left corner of this picture.

Sandstone blocks hold the stone in place.

The stone was placed above the entrance to the old tabernacle in 1861, before the building was completed.

Many foundation stones from this old building were donated to Provo City.

Some of these stones are now in use in the gardens at Pioneer Park.

No sign marks their presence.

You just have to know.

My camera and I took a visiting grandson there last Tuesday. The splash pad is open through the end of the week.  Please look around for the stones in the nearby gardens.

I did not see doors on the tower entrances.

Two years ago, the building was wide open.

Last year at this time, the bricks were in jail, it seemed.

This morning when I peeked in, I saw wonderful things.

The temple is designed to be beautifully Victorian.

Two years ago, the concrete for the underground garage floor hadn't been poured.

The garage is now completely hidden under new gardens on the west and south sides.

There are several stairways to the garage.

I walked down the Nu Skin driveway this morning to look in.

Notice the beautiful lights on the ceiling of the walkway between the underground pavilion and the lower level entrance to the temple.  You might also notice rolls of carpeting waiting to go inside.

I looked for doors at the south entrance.

All other ground level doors are actually emergency exits, but temple patrons can use this entrance.

A carpenter made sure this door will fit perfectly.

I did my best to peek in, knowing it might be my last chance.

There is no need to peek to see the fountain.

I walked south along the new sidewalk, still very pleased that it's now open.

Last year no one was even thinking about a sidewalk. 

The roof of the garage hadn't even been completed.

Using no zoom on my camera, I took this picture today.

I couldn't resist zooming in to see the gablets, which weren't there last year.

New light posts now grace the Second South entrance to the garage.

Painters are still working on the pavilion.

My last peek for the morning included woodwork and marble around the stairs coming up from the garage.

Notice the similarity in the design of the lights in the pavilion and the lights in the underground garage.

It won't be long now.