The extensive, multiyear renovation of the Salt Lake Temple reached a pinnacle of sorts Tuesday, Feb. 13, with the placement of the final reinforcing steel pyramid atop the iconic house of the Lord.
An estimated 800 construction team members involved in the renovation project gathered beside the pioneer landmark anchoring the Temple Square headquarters for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City for the midday “topping out” ceremony, a building tradition marking when the structure’s final beam or equivalent piece is placed.
For the Salt Lake Temple and its Tuesday topping out, the sixth and final reinforcing steel pyramid was placed on the central-west tower. It marks the return of the temple’s six signature towers that were removed for refurbishment nearly four years ago.
“It’s a joyful feeling to know that anyone can now look at the temple and say to themselves, ‘I can start to see and recognize something that is familiar to me,’” said Josh Fenn, Jacobsen Construction project executive and project director overseeing all renovation work on Temple Square, in a report published on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. “I hope people will take satisfaction in seeing more and more things that are familiar coming back to them.”
Pioneer-era renovations
Original construction of a temple in the heart of Salt Lake City began in 1853, with the Salt Lake Temple finally finished and dedicated 40 years later, in 1893.
In the April 2019 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to renovate and preserve the Church’s four pioneer-era temples — in Salt Lake City, St. George, Logan and Manti.
The renovated St. George Utah Temple was rededicated Dec. 10, 2023, and the recently completed Manti Utah Temple is awaiting its public open house prior to its scheduled April 21, 2024, rededication. A renovation of the Logan Utah Temple has yet to be announced.
Renovation of the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square is scheduled for a 2026 completion.
Focusing on the spires and spire stones
The Salt Lake Temple closed for renovations in December 2019, with renovations beginning in earnest in 2020. For the spires and spire stones, the location of each stone was mapped and catalogued, and each stone was tracked and stored for cleaning in anticipation of a return to its original spot.
In summer 2023, the first reinforced spire steel plates began to be added to the temple towers, with the refurbished spire stones being returned to their precise locations.
Renovations will still reach greater heights before completion. The temple’s capstone and angel Moroni statue — included in the refurbishing and renovation project — will be replaced at a later date atop the central-east tower.
The extensive renovation project of the temple and Temple Square is in part to strengthen the temple and other structures against damaging earthquakes as well as to refresh the campus.
‘Six spires rising into heaven’
“The spires are iconic because when people see the Salt Lake Temple, the first thing they’re drawn to are the six spires rising into heaven,” said Brad Bohne, Jacobsen’s general superintendent overseeing field operations on the project.
“It’s always been a big deal for our project team to protect these. Being relatively tall and skinny structures on top of a really massive, heavy building, these spires were at risk of whipping around in a big seismic event. Holding these in place has been a challenge that has taken years of planning, predictive modeling, scanning and considering what the steel is needed to do to match the available space in the towers.”
The new steel supports were added with point-cloud technology, a 3D scanning and modeling process that “allowed each steel member to be fabricated to the precise dimensions that were needed to maintain the same size, shape and position that the stone structure historically had,” the news release explained.
Explained Ryan Memmott, executive project manager for Schuff Steel, the firm that fabricated and installed the new steel: “Once the new steel members are anchored to the existing stone inside the spire, there is a final pyramid-shaped steel section that is added to the top.
“The team can then waterproof around the steel components, and the existing stones are put back into place, each being anchored back to the steel, creating one unified structure. Stone that was crafted by 19th century builders is put back onto the temple just as it was, this time with the help of 21st century steel technology that gives the spires even more strength and stability.”
Strengthening from top to bottom
The spire structures are just one of several ways to strengthen the towers. Another effort included the addition of steel cabling in the interior of each tower, tying the spire structure into the base isolation system in the temple’s foundation.
“We’re not focused on just the base,” said David Rees, senior principal with FFKR, the project’s architecture firm. “The top of the structure is also important in terms of how we secure this edifice for many years to come through any seismic events that we anticipate could occur in this region.”
Fenn said Tuesday’s topping-out ceremony was one of a number of construction traditions and milestones that serve as a reminder of the long-term significance coming from a day-to-day work.
Also at Tuesday’s event, construction team members signed some of the final reinforcing steel that will go atop the Salt Lake Temple. Accompanying some of the signatures were brief messages.
“Countless people continue to give their heart and soul to this renovation,” Fenn said, “so seeing a big step forward like this coming to fruition — it’s really touching, for all of us.”
