Description

The Vernal Utah Temple is the fifty-first temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in Vernal, it is the tenth Latter-day Saint temple built in the state of Utah. The Temple serves 36,000 members in 12 stakes in eastern Utah, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming.

History

Originally, the building served as the Uintah Stake Tabernacle for Latter-day Saints in eastern Utah. The Tabernacle’s foundation was constructed of nearby sandstone with walls built of four layers of fired brick from local clay. The building was built with considerable donated labor from the fall of 1899 until it was dedicated on August 24, 1907 by then Church president Joseph F. Smith. Smith said that he “would not be surprised if the day would come when a temple would be built in your midst here.”^[1] “Vernal Utah Temple Dedicated,” Ensign, Jan. 1998, 78. ^[2]Avant, Gerry (February 19, 1994). “‘Memorial to pioneering spirit’ to have new function as temple”. The Deseret News. p. 3. Retrieved May 25, 2015.

Relative to other Tabernacles built by the Saints in that era, Roger Jackson characterized the Uintah Stake Tabernacle as relatively modest, without the decorative details found on Tabernacles in central and northern Utah. Nonetheless, he wrote, “the building is the most prominent structure in Vernal and considered the finest building in all of eastern Utah.”^[3] Jackson, Roger P. (1998), “Building of the Vernal Utah Temple”, Utah Preservation, 2: 11–18

The tabernacle was superseded by an adjacent, more modern stake center in 1948. Only used irregularly thereafter, the Church announced the Tabernacle’s closing in 1984 for public safety reasons. Among other things, the Tabernacle lacked indoor bathrooms and access for the disabled.

A local “Save the Tabernacle” committee formed, and in 1989 a preservation study was prepared.

Announcement

The announcement of the new temple came on 13 February 1994. That Sunday priesthood leaders in the Vernal Utah and Roosevelt Utah regions read a letter in sacrament meetings and at the Vernal Utah Glines Stake conference from the First Presidency announcing plans for the temple.In the letter, the First Presidency said that “after extensive study, we have concluded to use the shell of the building, restoring its original outside appearance, and creating within it, a beautiful temple.”^[4]“Shell of old tabernacle to house a new temple in eastern Utah,” Church News, Feb. 19, 1994

During a five-day open house 29 April-2 May of 1994 over 18,000 people toured the tabernacle before it was closed for renovation to become the Vernal Utah Temple.^[5]“Public can tour Vernal Tabernacle and temple-to-be,” Church News, April 23, 1994 .^[6]“Tabernacle open house attracts 18,800 people in anticipation of temple,” Church News, May 7, 1994

All of the furniture and fixtures salvaged from the Uintah Stake Tabernacle were sold at public auction a year later on April 15, 1995. Everything available sold in 3½ hours.

Groundbreaking

A groundbreaking ceremony and sited dedication were held on 13 May 1995.^[7]”May ceremony to mark the beginning of Vernal temple construction,” Church News, Published: Saturday, April 15, 1995 . President of the Church, Gordon B. Hinckley presided at the meeting and gave the dedicatory prayer. Nearly 12,000 people gathered on the site for the ceremony. At that time President Hinckley said , “I don’t hesitate to tell you, on the basis of the architectural drawing, … that when [the temple] is completed and you have the opportunity of walking through it, you will feel touched by that which has been created out of this historic, dedicated, sacred structure.”^[8] Kathi Irving, “Construction Begins on Vernal Utah Temple,” Ensign, Aug. 1995, 75.

Construction

Before altering the original building, the architectural firm took 400 photographs of the tabernacle for reference as they sought to preserve its structure and detail. During construction, the building was fortified against earthquakes and wind through modification and reinforcement of the interior wall structure.

Recyling For a Temple

The Reader Home, a turn-of-the-century residence in Vernal, became the source of thousands of needed bricks for the Vernal Utah Temple. Some of the salvaged brick was used in a gate on the west end of the temple, the historic entrance to the tabernacle. Some was used to replace cracked and chipped bricks on the temple facade. The owner of the home a friend of another faith who planned to raze the home, agreed to donate it to the church instead.

For two months 1,128 volunteers donated 5,000 hours so that 16,000 bricks could be painstakingly removed from the home and brought to the temple. Crews replaced crumbling bricks on the temple’s exterior with similar brick from the donated home. From samples and markings on the brick it was determined that the brick from the home had come from the same clay pit and same kiln, the Abner N. Swain Brickworks, as the brick that the tabernacle had been built from.^[9]Kathleen M. Irving, “Crews Salvage Bricks For Entry at Temple Site,” Church News, June 15, 1996^[10] R. Scott Lloyd, “Vernal temple doors open to public,” Church News, Oct. 18, 1997

Recycle and re-use became a theme for the temple construction. The 12 sculpted oxen that bear the temple’s baptismal font on their backs were part of an exhibit in the South Visitors Center on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. The oxen had been in storage since the visitors center was remodeled three years previously. Some of the benches from the old tabernacle were refurbished for use in the temple’s chapel.

A stained-glass window on the east wall of the temple, depicting the Savior surrounded by a flock of sheep and holding a lamb, was made originally for the Mt. Olivet Methodist Episcopal Church of Hollywood, Calif., in the 1920s. The Church bought the building in 1937 and used it as a meetinghouse until the early 1990s. The window had been in storage after the chapel was damaged by an earthquake in 1994 and was demolished. The window was placed in a space where the tabernacle originally had a window, high on the east side, but it had been bricked in. The brick was removed for placement of the stained-glass window. Artist Willie Littig created an 11-piece art-glass frame that complements the window and is consistent with art glass elsewhere in the temple.^[11] R. Scott Lloyd, “Vernal temple doors open to public,” Church News, Oct. 18, 1997

Open House

118,700 visited the temple during its two-week open house 11–25 October 1997.

Dedication

Gordon B. Hinckley officially dedicated the Vernal Utah Temple on November 2-4, 1997 in 11 sessions over three days.

In the dedicatory prayer, President Hinckley referred to the original building and the sacrifice of those who built it: “The original tabernacle came of a great spirit of faith and sacrifice on the part of those Saints who settled in this area. It was built as an offering unto Thee, and was held in the affections of the people long after it was used as a house of worship. Now that old and much-loved building has become the centerpiece of a new and beautiful House of the Lord. It has a quiet luster all its own.”

Dedicatory Prayer

Dedication Order

The Vernal Utah Temple is the fifty-first temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the tenth temple built in the state of Utah. 8 Temples were under construction at the time of the Vernal Utah Temple dedication, and 7 had been announced and were awaiting groundbreaking.

Under Construction	Awaiting Groundbreaking	Undergoing Renovation
Preston England	Billings Montana
Bogota Colombia	Boston Massachusetts
Madrid Spain	Caracas Venezuela
Santo Domingo Dominican Republic	Monterrey Mexico
Guayaquil Ecuador	Nashville Tennessee
Cochabamba Bolivia	White Plains New York (Harrison)
Recife Brazil

Presidents

Temple President	Years Served
President Norman S. Nielson	2017–
President David R. Labrum	2014–2017
President Lamont W. Moon	2011–2014
President Mac W. Holmes	2008–2011
President Norman G. Angus	2005–2008
President Howard G. Todd	2002–2005
President Dan J. Workman	1999–2002
President Alva C. Snow	1997–1999

Details

Upon its dedication the Vernal Temple was unique as the only temple built from a previously existing structure. The goal of such an undertaking was to preserve the efforts and history of the Latter-day Saint settlers of the Ashley Valley and bring a temple closer to Church members. At the temple groundbreaking, president Hinckley remarked upon the unique nature of the project, saying” “we’ve never done before and we are not likely to do again.”^[12]John L. Hart, “Transformation Begins for Temple: Pres. Hinckley Breaks Ground at Uintah Stake Tabernacle” Church News (via Deseret News), 20 May 1995

Despite that pronouncement, since 1997 the Copenhagen Denmark, Manhattan New York, and Provo City Center temples have been similarly adapted from existing Church owned structures.

Exterior

The 33,400-square-foot temple sits on 1.6 acres. it is 210 feet long by 175 feet wide.

Cladding

The temple’s brick exterior reflects the popular architectural styles of Latter-day Saint design in the early 20th century as well as the modest design objectives of the tabernacle’s original architect.

Windows

The windows at the Vernal temple are plain glass, 4 panes per window, with the upper story windows being arched and the lower story being flat on top. The only exception is teh east end stained glass that is part of the celestial room.

Symbolism

An interesting feature of the Vernal Temple is the two round Granite plaques on the west end to either side of the west arch of the covered porch. On the original tabernacle these were cast stone or concrete circles, the left hand bearing  the number 19, and the right hand 01, both in raised letters.

19                               01

The year 1901 likely had reference to the year that the walls and roof were completed, as the groundbreaking was in 1900 and the dedication was in 1907.

The completed temple has replaced the cast stone with Granite circles, the left engraved with 1907, the year the tabernacle was dedicated, the right is engraved with 1997, the year the temple was dedicated.

1907                               1997

Inscriptions

There are 2 inscriptions on the Vernal Utah Temple. The first is on the east end of the attic story of the original tabernacle. the layout of this inscription follows the pattern of the inscription of the temples built in the 1980’s having super and subscript type. It is carved into a granite plaque set into an arched window style opening and the letters are painted black. The plaque also has the name of the Church under the inscription

HOLINESS _{TO THE}
LORD

^THE HOUSE _{OF THE}
LORD

The second inscription is on a granite plaque set above the new east entryway to the temple annex. It is also engraved into the stone with the letters painted black. The engravings are set on a single line, with a flower engraved between the two phrases.

HOLINESS TO THE LORD ❀ THE HOUSE OF THE LORD

Cornerstone

The cornerstone of the Vernal Utah Temple  is on the south east corner of the temple annex, facing east. Like the inscriptions it is a granite plaque with engraved letters painted black.

ERECTED
1997

Spires and Moroni

Spire

Black domes made of copper crown the temple’s two white towers and are visible from Highway 191. A new east tower was added to the tabernacle, 18.5 feet in diameter and topping out 98feet off the ground. The west tower was removed and an identical replacement was constructed from aluminum and fiberglass. The west tower measures 16 feet in diameter and tops out at about 80 feet above the ground.^[13]Gerry Avant, “Angel Moroni statue tops Vernal Utah Temple tower.“ Church News, Oct. 5, 1996

The original west tower was renovated into a gazebo and placed at the Ashley Valley Community Park. The cupola between the two towers was replaced with an aluminum and fiberglass reconstruction as well.^[14]Gerry Avant, “Angel Moroni statue tops Vernal Utah Temple tower.“ Church News, Oct. 5, 1996^[15] R. Scott Lloyd, “Vernal temple doors open to public,” Church News, Oct. 18, 1997

Moroni

A statue of the angel Moroni, a prophet from the Book of Mormon, faces east at the top of the East tower. It was placed on 26 September 1996. For safety reasons the Church refrains from announcing the date the angel will be placed on temples. Despite the lack of an announcement, an impromptu crowd of about 4,000 people gathered to watch the event.^[16]Gerry Avant, “Angel Moroni statue tops Vernal Utah Temple tower.“ Church News, Oct. 5, 1996

In an experiment, the statue had originally been painted gold using gold automotive paint. After four months, however, it was decided that the statue appeared dark and brown on cloudy days, and it was removed and the paint replaced with the traditional finish of gold leaf. Since then the automotive paint idea has been used only once more, at the Reno Nevada Temple, where high winds and dust storms make gold leaf impractical.

Interior

The Vernal Utah Temple has two ordinance rooms arranged in a progressive style, and three sealing rooms.

Each Endowment room inside the temple was designed to be slightly elevated from the last so that patrons physically ascend as they move through the temple. Due to the narrowness of the building, a two-stage endowment room was innovated for the Vernal Utah Temple—a concept which has been used in many temples since.

An east window opening that had been bricked over holds a beautiful piece of art glass depicting Christ holding one of many sheep. Over 20 different stencil painting patterns inside the temple were created by Daniel Peterson, who did the decorative painting inside Utah’s governor’s mansion and the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City. Temple furnishings represent the style of the original building, and some pieces are reproductions of antique furniture used in the Salt Lake Temple.^[17] Julie A. Dockstader, “Symbol of heritage, testimony,” Church News, Nov. 8, 1997

Furniture built in the style of the early 1900s, when the tabernacle was constructed. Walls in several rooms are hand-painted with decorative patterns appropriate to the area, such as sego lillies and wheat stocks. Original paintings by artists Valoy Eaton, David Ahrnsbrak, A.D. Shaw, Richard Murray and Chad Hawkins depict scenes in the area.

Individuals and Contractors

Architect	FFKR Architects
Project Manager	Lloyd Hess
Contractor	McCullough Engineering and Construction

Sources and Links

Additional Articles

• Jackson, Roger P. (1998), “Building of the Vernal Utah Temple”, Utah Preservation, 2: 11–18
• Uintah Tabernacle Dedication (1907)
• Save the Tabernacle (1984)

Sources/Citation