Uintah Stake Tabernacle
The Uintah Stake Tabernacle, dedicated in 1907, is the first building belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be converted into a temple.
"Construction on the Uintah Stake Tabernacle in Vernal, Utah, lasted from 1887 to 1900, with faithful members donating considerable labor and substance until its dedication on Aug. 24, 1907, by President Joseph F. Smith.
"On that occasion, President Smith said "he would not be surprised if a temple were built here some day," Chad Hawkins wrote in his book The First 100 Temples.[1]
"The Uintah Stake Tabernacle is devoid of Gothic detail common in church architecture and is a more simplified and almost civic variant of the Georgian New England Church form. Of over forty tabernacles built in Utah, it is the only one existing in the eastern part of the state."[2]
"A more modern stake center was built in 1948, resulting in less use of the tabernacle. In 1984, the LDS Church announced it was closing the old sandstone and fired brick pioneer structure due to safety concerns.[3]
"The members of the LDS Church in Ashley Valley, Utah, campaigned to save the tabernacle, and the First Presidency listened. At one point, President Gordon B. Hinckley and President Thomas S. Monson came for a tour, and after careful study and prayer, it was announced in 1994 that the tabernacle would be remodeled into a temple. The Vernal Utah Temple was dedicated in 1997.[4]
According to the architects, "The project included a complete adaptive re-use of the existing structure; only the roof trusses and the exterior masonry walls remain. New office and administrative functions, along with locker facilities, mechanical equipment rooms, and a laundry were added in an architecturally sympathetic addition. The existing floor and balcony in the Tabernacle building were removed as well as the interior wythe (or layer) of brick. The existing masonry walls were reinforced and strengthened with a four-inch layer of shotcrete (spray-applied concrete with reinforcing) that was extended to the bottom of the foundation walls. The interior floors were built on a structural steel frame of columns and beams."[5]
