The sights and sounds of Temple Square

By Rachel R. Keoppel

March 19, 2004 | A 9-foot-tall angel cloaked in gold stands upon the highest spire on a temple that looks as if it should be tucked away in the pages of a child's fairy tale
story.

Instead of being in a far-off land, the temple is nestled into the buildings that stand as sentinels in the middle of Salt Lake City.

People hustle to and fro on the 3-foot by 3-foot squares of sidewalk, divided by strips of gold. The tourists are wrapped in fleece scarves with their hats pulled down to their eyebrows to keep the sharp winter wind from their bones.

The SLC residents walk by in their black slacks and neckties. A women's trendy, yet professional high heels make a click-clack along the pavement on her way past, toward her board meeting that started five minutes ago.

On the West Side of the temple a tall flagpole looms, with two women standing beneath its shadow waiting to give a tour to the next visitor. The women are wearing identical ankle-length black coats to keep them warm.

Aside from an Easter purple fleece scarf wrapped around one of the women's necks the brightest piece to their attire are the flags hung underneath their name badges representing their home countries.

"Hello are you here to take the tour?" said Sister Wilcox, as she tries to pull her light brown hair back from the winds relentless efforts of blowing it into her eyes. Sister Wilcox is a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who is originally from Los Angeles. "There should be another tour starting any minute now.

Temple Square is one of the highly visited tourist areas in Utah. People come from all over the world for religious and sightseeing reasons.

"If you are just walking around the grounds you can't see everything. The Sister Missionaries can take you into places that the general public can't get in," said Stephanie Olsen, who trained for her mission by giving tours of Temple Square.

As soon as Sister Wilcox finishes asking her question, two women walk toward the flagpole in the similar black, ankle-length coats.

Sister Simeone from Italy and Sister Jungfleisch from Sydney, Australia are both missionaries for the LDS church, and are giving the tour today of Temple Square.

"We will let you know what all this is about," said Sister Simeone, to the group as she lead them toward the statue of the Handcart Monument.

Stephanie Olsen said, "What makes Temple Square so amazing isn't the grounds, flowers, building or the lights, but the sacrifice of the people and the love and faith of what they were sacrificing for. That is the spirit of Temple Square."

The Handcart Monument is constructed of bronze and is almost life-size. There are a few pale green shrubs peeking up through the freshly fallen snow surrounding the feet of the family pulling all of their worldly possessions in a handcart toward the Salt Lake Valley.

"The handcart was very small, about as big as the square of ground you are standing on," said Sister Simeone.

The statue depicts the early Mormon Pioneers who came to Utah seeking religious freedom. The pioneers built the majority of the buildings on Temple Square. After a brief history of the Mormon Pioneers, the missionaries direct everyone's sight and attention directly behind them. The Seagull Monument is the next stop on the tour.

The statue depicts two seagulls that are a bright bronze, perched atop a pillar of granite with their wings outstretched ready for flight. The statue represents the Pioneers battle with hordes of crickets during their first year in Salt Lake.

"The seagulls would fly in and ate the crickets," said Sister Jungfleisch, with her Austrailian accent as she recalled the Pioneer story.

A short walk down the gray stoned pathway lead the group to the Tabernacle. According to www.lds.org the "exterior of the completed building is 150 feet wide, 250 feet long, and 80 feet high. This unique Tabernacle was a marvel of its time. Through the bridge-building technique of Henry Grow, the Tabernacle roof was able to span its 150-foot width without center supports-an amazing achievement in both engineering and acoustics.

The Tabernacle is one of the key elements that make up Temple Square. It is also home of the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

"The Tabernacle roof is an inverted bowl that rests on 44 buttresses. It also seats 6500 people," said Sister Simeone.

Inside the Tabernacle there are hundreds of benches to seat visitors. The
benches were all hand-painted by the pioneers to appear to be made of a more expensive wood then what they were actually made of. The pillars that surround the walls are also made of wood and were hand painted to look like marble.

The interior of the building is so acoustically perfect that a pin can be dropped from the front of the building and be heard 170 feet away in the back.

One of the most amazing features of the Tabernacle is the massive organ that encumbers the front of the building. There are 11,623 pipes that make up the
organ.

"A lot of the organ pipes in the front are artificial," said Dave Porter, who works on Church Public Affairs. "Some of the pipes in the front are used and there are hundreds of pipes behind that you never see.

The Tabernacle dates back to 1875 when early pioneers built it. The organ requires a great deal of work to keep it maintaining its uniqueness and sound.

"Behind the organ loft is a myramid mix of old and new technology that keeps the organ tuned. A lot of blowers and dehumidifiers keep the organ in tune," said Porter. "It's a real challenge in the summertime because there's no air conditioning. It's also equally as tough in the winter because of the cold."

After the group is seated on a bench at the Tabernacle to hear a demonstration of the acoustics, it is time for the next stop. The six-pillar granite temple is the last visit on the tour.

Construction on the Salt Lake Temple was started four days after the Mormon Pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. The cornerstone of the building was laid on April 6, 1853.

"Many difficulties slowed the building of the temple. Granite was quarried in Little Cottonwood Canyon, 20 miles southeast of Temple Square, and transported to the site by teams of oxen. A single wagonload required four days of travel to reach the temple site," according to www.lds.org. After 40 years of construction the temple was completed on April 6, 1893.

The temple is the focal point of Temple Square. It's exterior is cathedral architecture, and has symbolic carving discreetly decorating its walls. The walls of the temple are 16-feet thick at the base, and taper off to be 8-feet thick at the top.

The temple is visited by thousands of people yearly for sacred ordinances. It is the only building of the tour, and in Temple Square that is closed to the public.

Taking the tour in the springtime allows visitors to see the gardens that lay over the grounds. There are rainbows of flowers that are neatly cared for to make sure the gardens are ready for wedding photos at all times.

Temple Square is known for the hundreds of Christmas lights that are hung in the trees in the wintertime. There is also a life-size nativity that is set up on the grounds.

No matter what season it is in Salt Lake, there's an abundance sights to be seen and stories to be told about Temple Square.

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