Salt Lake Tabernacle
Encyclopedia
The Salt Lake Tabernacle, also known as the Mormon Tabernacle, is located on Temple Square
in Salt Lake City
, Utah
along with the Salt Lake Assembly Hall
and Salt Lake Temple
.
The Tabernacle was built to house meetings for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church), and was the location of the semi-annual LDS General Conference for 132 years. However, because of the growth in the number of conference attendees, the LDS General Conference was moved to the new and larger LDS Conference Center
in 2000. In the October 1999 General Conference, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley
gave a talk honoring the Tabernacle and introducing the new LDS Conference Center. Now a historic building in Temple Square
, the Salt Lake Tabernacle is still used for overflow crowds during General Conference. The Tabernacle is the home of the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir
, and was the previous home of the Utah Symphony Orchestra
until the construction of Abravanel Hall
. It is the historic broadcasting home for the radio and television program known as Music and the Spoken Word
. In 2005, the Tabernacle was closed for 2 years of intensive renovations that greatly increased its ability to withstand earthquakes. It was reopened and rededicated during the Saturday afternoon session of the Church's General Conference on March 31, 2007 by Hinckley. The Museum of Church History and Art opened an extensive display on the Tabernacle as part of the rededication of the historic edifice.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle was inspired by an attempt to build a Canvas Tabernacle in Nauvoo, Illinois
in the 1840s. This tabernacle
was to be situated just to the West of the Nauvoo Temple
and was to be oval shaped, much the same as the Salt Lake Tabernacle. However, the Nauvoo edifice (never built) was to have amphitheater style or terraced seating, and was to have canvas roofing.
The Tabernacle was built between 1864 and 1867 on the west center-line axis of the Salt Lake Temple
. The roof was constructed in an Ithiel Town
lattice-truss arch system that is held together by dowels and wedges. The building has a sandstone
foundation
, and the dome is supported by forty-four sandstone piers. The overall seating capacity
of the building is 7000, which includes the choir
area and gallery (balcony
).
Henry Grow
, an LDS civil engineer
oversaw the initial construction of the Tabernacle, the domed roof being the most innovative portion of the building. Brigham Young
, President
of the LDS Church at the time, wanted the Tabernacle roof constructed in an elongated dome
shape. When Young asked Grow how large a roof he could construct using the style of lattice that he had used on the Remington bridge, Grow replied that it could be "100 feet wide and as long as is wanted." Eventually, Grow engineered the Tabernacle roof to be 150 feet across and 250 feet long. Skeptics insisted that when the interior scaffolding was removed, the whole roof would collapse. The roof structure was nine feet thick, formed by a "Remington lattice truss" of timbers pinned together with wooden pegs. Green rawhide was wrapped around the timbers so that when the rawhide dried it tightened its grip on the pegs. When the roof's structural work was completed, sheeting was applied on the roof, which was then covered with shingles. The interior was lathed and then plastered - the hair of cattle being mixed with the plaster to give it strength.
Construction of the Tabernacle began on July 26, 1864, but construction of the roof did not begin until 1865 when all 44 supporting sandstone
pier
s designed by William H. Folsom were in place. Grow rapidly built the roof structure from the center out, but encountered difficulty engineering the semicircular
ends of the roof. This difficulty dragged structural work on the roof into fall of 1866 even as other parts of the roof were being shingled. However, Grow finished and shingled the entire roof by the spring of 1867, before the interior of the building was finished. The Tabernacle was first used for the October 1867 conference. The roof has lasted for over a century without any structural problems, though the shingles were replaced with aluminum in 1947.
The original benches and columns supporting the balcony were made from the native "white pine" (Engelmann Spruce
) that the Latter-day Saint pioneers found in the area. Because they wanted to "give their best to the Lord", they hand painted grain on the benches to look like oak and the pillars to resemble marble. During the renovations completed in 2007, the original benches were replaced with new oak pews, and legroom was increased from 9 to 14 inches, causing an overall loss of capacity of 1000 seats.
The organ in the Tabernacle
has the organ case positioned at the west end above the choir seats, and is the focal point of the Tabernacle's interior. The original organ was made by Joseph H. Ridges in 1867 and contained 700 pipes. The organ has been rebuilt several times with the total pipe count being 11,623, making the Tabernacle organ one of the largest pipe organ
s in the world. The current organ is the masterwork of G. Donald Harrison
of the Aeolian-Skinner
organ company, and was completed in 1948. The organ was renovated and restored in 1989 with a few minor changes and additions. Interestingly, the largest 32' display pipes in the façade are made of wood and were constructed in the same manner as the balcony columns.
dubbed the tabernacle "one of the architectural masterpieces of the country and perhaps the world."
s, the Tabernacle was constructed with remarkable acoustic
qualities so the entire congregation could hear sermons given there, mainly for General Conference. The roof was constructed in a three-dimensional ellipse
with the pulpit
at one focus
of the ellipse. The elliptical concept came from Brigham Young
, the Latter-day Saint prophet. The elliptical design causes a large portion of the sound from the pulpit end of the building to be concentrated and projected to the focus at the opposite end of the building. Furthermore, the roof rests on sandstone piers around the outside, without any interior supports that would impede the sound waves.
Several years after the initial construction was completed, Truman O. Angell
was brought in to further improve the building's acoustics, and was responsible for adding the gallery (balcony) in 1870 that resolved the outstanding acoustical issues. The building has an international reputation as a nearly acoustically perfect
building. It is common for LDS missionary tour guides to demonstrate the acoustic properties of the Tabernacle by dropping a pin on the pulpit or tearing a newspaper there, which can be plainly heard throughout the building.
ting and extensive renovations. The baptistry, which was located in the lower portion at the rear of the Tabernacle, was removed as part of the renovation. New gold leafing was applied to the visible organ pipes, the ceiling was repaired and repainted, new dressing rooms and a music library for choir members were created, as well as three recording studios built underneath the main floor, the rostrum was remodeled to accommodate a secondary seating arrangement or a stage for performances, and all plumbing was replaced. The historic building was reopened in March 2007, and rededicated for use on March 31, 2007. An opening gala concert with the Tabernacle Choir was held on April 6–7, 2007.
All 44 piers that support the Tabernacle's unique roof were reinforced with steel bars, which were inserted into the piers from the bottom. The foundation of each pier was also reinforced with concrete. Steel boxes were used to connect trusses, and were also attached to the piers, clinched tight with structured steel.
Temple Square
Temple Square is a ten acre complex located in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In recent years, the usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities immediately adjacent to Temple Square...
in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
along with the Salt Lake Assembly Hall
Salt Lake Assembly Hall
thumb|200px|right|Front entrance to the Assembly Hall with the [[Seagull Monument]] in foregroundthumb|200px|right|Inside Assembly HallThe Salt Lake Assembly Hall is one of the buildings owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the southwest corner of Temple Square in Salt Lake...
and Salt Lake Temple
Salt Lake Temple
The Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known of more than 130 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo,...
.
History
LDS Conference Center
The Conference Center, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the premier meeting hall for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Completed in spring 2000 in time for the church's April 2000 general conference, the 21,000-seat Conference Center replaced the traditional use of the nearby Salt...
in 2000. In the October 1999 General Conference, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death...
gave a talk honoring the Tabernacle and introducing the new LDS Conference Center. Now a historic building in Temple Square
Temple Square
Temple Square is a ten acre complex located in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In recent years, the usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities immediately adjacent to Temple Square...
, the Salt Lake Tabernacle is still used for overflow crowds during General Conference. The Tabernacle is the home of the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, sometimes colloquially referred to as MoTab, is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning, 360-member, all-volunteer choir. The choir is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . However, the choir is completely self-funded, traveling and producing albums to...
, and was the previous home of the Utah Symphony Orchestra
Utah Symphony Orchestra
-History:The first attempt to create a symphony group in the Utah area occurred in 1892, before Utah was a state. The Salt Lake Symphony was created and presented just one concert before disbanding. In 1902 the Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra was formed, and it remained in existence until 1911...
until the construction of Abravanel Hall
Abravanel Hall
Abravanel Hall is a concert hall in Salt Lake City, Utah that is home to the Utah Symphony, and is part of the Salt Lake County Center for the Arts. The hall is an architectural landmark in the city, and is adjacent to Temple Square and the Salt Palace on South Temple Street...
. It is the historic broadcasting home for the radio and television program known as Music and the Spoken Word
Music and the Spoken Word
Music and the Spoken Word is a weekly 30-minute radio and television program of inspiring messages and music produced by Bonneville Communications with music performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir .The radio program is distributed by the CBS Radio Network and its broadcast center is KSL...
. In 2005, the Tabernacle was closed for 2 years of intensive renovations that greatly increased its ability to withstand earthquakes. It was reopened and rededicated during the Saturday afternoon session of the Church's General Conference on March 31, 2007 by Hinckley. The Museum of Church History and Art opened an extensive display on the Tabernacle as part of the rededication of the historic edifice.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle was inspired by an attempt to build a Canvas Tabernacle in Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
in the 1840s. This tabernacle
Tabernacle (LDS Church)
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a tabernacle is a multipurpose religious building, used for church services, conferences, and as community centers. They differ from meetinghouses and temples in design, scale, and purpose...
was to be situated just to the West of the Nauvoo Temple
Nauvoo Temple
The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons. The church's first temple was completed in Kirtland, Ohio, United States in 1836. When the main body of the church was forced out of Nauvoo, Illinois in the...
and was to be oval shaped, much the same as the Salt Lake Tabernacle. However, the Nauvoo edifice (never built) was to have amphitheater style or terraced seating, and was to have canvas roofing.
Construction
Salt Lake Temple
The Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known of more than 130 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo,...
. The roof was constructed in an Ithiel Town
Ithiel Town
Ithiel Town was a prominent American architect and civil engineer. One of the first generation of professional architects in the United States, Town made significant contributions to American architecture in the first half of the 19th century. He was high-strung, sophisticated, generous,...
lattice-truss arch system that is held together by dowels and wedges. The building has a sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
, and the dome is supported by forty-four sandstone piers. The overall seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of the building is 7000, which includes the choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
area and gallery (balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
).
Henry Grow
Henry Grow
Henry Grow was a Latter-day Saint builder and civil engineer in pioneer-era Utah. His most notable achievement was aiding the construction of the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah...
, an LDS civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
oversaw the initial construction of the Tabernacle, the domed roof being the most innovative portion of the building. Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
, President
President of the Church (Mormonism)
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed successors, such as Brigham Young, Joseph Smith III,...
of the LDS Church at the time, wanted the Tabernacle roof constructed in an elongated dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
shape. When Young asked Grow how large a roof he could construct using the style of lattice that he had used on the Remington bridge, Grow replied that it could be "100 feet wide and as long as is wanted." Eventually, Grow engineered the Tabernacle roof to be 150 feet across and 250 feet long. Skeptics insisted that when the interior scaffolding was removed, the whole roof would collapse. The roof structure was nine feet thick, formed by a "Remington lattice truss" of timbers pinned together with wooden pegs. Green rawhide was wrapped around the timbers so that when the rawhide dried it tightened its grip on the pegs. When the roof's structural work was completed, sheeting was applied on the roof, which was then covered with shingles. The interior was lathed and then plastered - the hair of cattle being mixed with the plaster to give it strength.
Construction of the Tabernacle began on July 26, 1864, but construction of the roof did not begin until 1865 when all 44 supporting sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
pier
Pier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...
s designed by William H. Folsom were in place. Grow rapidly built the roof structure from the center out, but encountered difficulty engineering the semicircular
Semicircle
In mathematics , a semicircle is a two-dimensional geometric shape that forms half of a circle. Being half of a circle's 360°, the arc of a semicircle always measures 180° or a half turn...
ends of the roof. This difficulty dragged structural work on the roof into fall of 1866 even as other parts of the roof were being shingled. However, Grow finished and shingled the entire roof by the spring of 1867, before the interior of the building was finished. The Tabernacle was first used for the October 1867 conference. The roof has lasted for over a century without any structural problems, though the shingles were replaced with aluminum in 1947.
The original benches and columns supporting the balcony were made from the native "white pine" (Engelmann Spruce
Engelmann Spruce
Picea engelmannii is a species of spruce native to western North America, from central British Columbia and southwest Alberta, southwest to northern California and southeast to Arizona and New Mexico; there are also two isolated populations in northern Mexico...
) that the Latter-day Saint pioneers found in the area. Because they wanted to "give their best to the Lord", they hand painted grain on the benches to look like oak and the pillars to resemble marble. During the renovations completed in 2007, the original benches were replaced with new oak pews, and legroom was increased from 9 to 14 inches, causing an overall loss of capacity of 1000 seats.
The organ in the Tabernacle
Salt Lake Tabernacle organ
The Salt Lake Tabernacle organ is a pipe organ located in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah. Along with the nearby Conference Center organ, it is typically used to accompany the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and is also featured in daily noon recitals...
has the organ case positioned at the west end above the choir seats, and is the focal point of the Tabernacle's interior. The original organ was made by Joseph H. Ridges in 1867 and contained 700 pipes. The organ has been rebuilt several times with the total pipe count being 11,623, making the Tabernacle organ one of the largest pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
s in the world. The current organ is the masterwork of G. Donald Harrison
G. Donald Harrison
George Donald Harrison crafted some of the finest and largest pipe organs in the United States. He started out in 1914 as a patent attorney but after military service he began to pursue an interest in pipe organ building working with Henry Willis & Sons of London.After immigrating to America,...
of the Aeolian-Skinner
Aeolian-Skinner
Æolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc. — Æolian-Skinner of Boston, Massachusetts was an important American builder of a large number of notable pipe organs from its inception as the Skinner Organ Company in 1901 until its closure in 1972. Key figures were Ernest M. Skinner , Arthur Hudson Marks ,...
organ company, and was completed in 1948. The organ was renovated and restored in 1989 with a few minor changes and additions. Interestingly, the largest 32' display pipes in the façade are made of wood and were constructed in the same manner as the balcony columns.
Architecture
The structure was an architectural wonder in its day, prompting a writer for Scientific American to comment on "the mechanical difficulties of attending the construction of so ponderous a roof." Some visitors around the beginning of the 20th century criticized it as "a prodigious tortoise that has lost its way" or "the Church of the Holy Turtle," but Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
dubbed the tabernacle "one of the architectural masterpieces of the country and perhaps the world."
Acoustics
Built at a time before electronics and audio amplifierAudio amplifier
An audio amplifier is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power audio signals to a level suitable for driving loudspeakers and is the final stage in a typical audio playback chain.The preceding stages in such a chain are low power audio amplifiers which perform tasks like pre-amplification,...
s, the Tabernacle was constructed with remarkable acoustic
Acoustics
Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics...
qualities so the entire congregation could hear sermons given there, mainly for General Conference. The roof was constructed in a three-dimensional ellipse
Ellipse
In geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...
with the pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
at one focus
Focus (geometry)
In geometry, the foci are a pair of special points with reference to which any of a variety of curves is constructed. For example, foci can be used in defining conic sections, the four types of which are the circle, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola...
of the ellipse. The elliptical concept came from Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
, the Latter-day Saint prophet. The elliptical design causes a large portion of the sound from the pulpit end of the building to be concentrated and projected to the focus at the opposite end of the building. Furthermore, the roof rests on sandstone piers around the outside, without any interior supports that would impede the sound waves.
Several years after the initial construction was completed, Truman O. Angell
Truman O. Angell
Truman Osborn Angell served many years as Church Architect for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was a member of the vanguard company of Mormon pioneers, entering the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. He designed the Salt Lake Temple, the Lion House, the Beehive House, the...
was brought in to further improve the building's acoustics, and was responsible for adding the gallery (balcony) in 1870 that resolved the outstanding acoustical issues. The building has an international reputation as a nearly acoustically perfect
Architectural acoustics
Architectural acoustics is the science of noise control within buildings. The first application of architectural acoustics was in the design of opera houses and then concert halls. More widely, noise suppression is critical in the design of multi-unit dwellings and business premises that generate...
building. It is common for LDS missionary tour guides to demonstrate the acoustic properties of the Tabernacle by dropping a pin on the pulpit or tearing a newspaper there, which can be plainly heard throughout the building.
Refurbishing
The Tabernacle was closed from January 2005 to March 2007 for seismic retrofitSeismic retrofit
Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. With better understanding of seismic demand on structures and with our recent experiences with large earthquakes near urban centers,...
ting and extensive renovations. The baptistry, which was located in the lower portion at the rear of the Tabernacle, was removed as part of the renovation. New gold leafing was applied to the visible organ pipes, the ceiling was repaired and repainted, new dressing rooms and a music library for choir members were created, as well as three recording studios built underneath the main floor, the rostrum was remodeled to accommodate a secondary seating arrangement or a stage for performances, and all plumbing was replaced. The historic building was reopened in March 2007, and rededicated for use on March 31, 2007. An opening gala concert with the Tabernacle Choir was held on April 6–7, 2007.
All 44 piers that support the Tabernacle's unique roof were reinforced with steel bars, which were inserted into the piers from the bottom. The foundation of each pier was also reinforced with concrete. Steel boxes were used to connect trusses, and were also attached to the piers, clinched tight with structured steel.
External links
- Official Site of the Salt Lake Tabernacle
- Official Site of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
- "Tabernacle on Temple Square" from Utah.com
- Seismic Retrofitting of the Tabernacle
- House of Saints, a documentary on the Salt Lake Tabernacle from BYU TelevisionBYU Television__NOEDITSECTION__Brigham Young University Television is a cable/satellite television channel operated by Brigham Young University...