The story behind this Temple is an odd one. Read on.

October 2011

President Monson was the LDS president at the time of the October 1, 2011, General Conference. This Temple was built after the design of the Vernal Utah temple. This made Provo, Utah, the second city in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to have two temples.

History

It started as a tabernacle on University Avenue and 100 South in 1861. This one was a bit smaller. Brigham Young mentioned that the TabeTabernacle was “entirely too small.”

Second Tabernacle

This one was bigger, indeed. It was built just north of the old one and started in 1883. It was initially built as a meeting house that could hold up to 3,000 people. In 1887, a General Conference was held there.

1907, the tabernacle building costs totaled $100,000, and a $10,000 Austin Organ Company was installed.

In 1963, it was updated, while the inside had painting, heating, and electrical were all updated.

Impact 

The TabeTabernacle had a significant impact on the community. The tabeTabernacle used for

• Concerts
• LDS Stake Conferences
• Community events
• Madame Abbie Carrington sang
  • Big time entertainer in 1891
• President William H. Taft spU.S.e
  • US President 
• Composer Sergel Rachmaninoff performed there
  • 1938
• Many funerals

This was on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Fire

On December 17, 2010, at 2:43 AM MST, firefighters arrived as smoke came from the building. Soon, it was a four-alarm fire. The roof gave way and the fire went on for 30 hours, I think that is right.

They found that the fire was most likely caused by a lamp placed too close to combustible materials. Other things were wrong, like

• Lack of fire protection
  • Sprinklers
  • Notification
• Human error
  • No one reported an order

Destroyed in the fire

• $1.5 million painting
• $1 million for the Austin pipe organ
• $100,000 rented Fazioli Grand Piano
• $20,000 Lyon & Healy concert grand harp
• $2 million in videography equipment in a production truck for KBYU.

Was taken from

Provo Tabernacle. (2024, March 2). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provo_Tabernacle

Building the Temple

During the building of the Temple, they placed the remaining walls of the old tabeTabernaclescaffolding to dig two basement levels below it.

One small earthquake, hurricane, microburst, or tornado would have that building tumbling down.

The Temple’s construction involved carefully binding the fragile walls so they wouldn’t fall.

The video below was taken from the following website:

https://www.nicholsonconstruction.com/projects/provo-city-center-temple

What Now

Going back to the top, Pres. Monson announced that the Tabernacle would be built as a temple, the Provo City Center Temple. It was dedicated on Sunday, March 20, 2016.

Provo City Center Temple

Timeline

• Announcement
  • October 1, 2011
• Groundbreaking and site dedication
  • May 12, 2012
• Public open house
  • January 15 thru March 5, 2016

About 800,000 people visited the Temple during the open house

• Site
  • 5.6 acres
• Exterior Finish
  • Brick
• Architectural Features
  • Central spire surrounded by four corner piers with an angle Moroni statue
• Ordinance Rooms
  • Three instruction rooms
  • Five Sealing rooms
    • Married
  • One baptistry
• Total floor area
  • 85,084 square feet
• Height
  • 150 Feet
• Elevation
  • 4,547 feet

The following was taken from https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/provo-city-center-temple/

Interesting

In 2012, after the fire, the Office of Public Archaeology at Brigham Young University found coins and other items that had fallen through the floor and remained there from the first tabernacle. They also found a foundation and a nearby baptismal font. The rock foundation was disassembled, and the stones were given to Provo City.

Here are some links where you can read and watch some other videos

: https://www.heraldextra.com/news/2020/dec/17/memories-still-tender-after-decade-since-provo-tabernacle-burned

Video