Essential Temple Tee (Provo City Center)

Location
Provo, Utah. The temple stands at 50 South University Avenue in downtown Provo, on the 5.6-acre city block where the Provo Tabernacle stood for more than a century.

Temple Number
The Church's 150th operating temple at its dedication, the 16th in Utah, and the second in Provo.

Announced
October 1, 2011, by President Thomas S. Monson in general conference, less than a year after fire destroyed the tabernacle's interior.

Groundbreaking
May 12, 2012. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided.

Dedicated
March 20, 2016, by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in three sessions; President Russell M. Nelson presided at the third session.

Architecture
FFKR Architects, architect; Jacobsen Construction Company, contractor. The restored brick shell of the 1898 Provo Tabernacle forms the exterior, with arched art-glass windows, corner towers, and blue conical roofs, enclosing 85,084 square feet of floor area and rising 150 feet.

Ordinance Rooms
Three instruction rooms in a two-stage progressive presentation, five sealing rooms, and a baptistry with an oval font of rose gold granite.

First Temple President
Allen C. Ostergar Jr., called as the temple's first president for its 2016 opening.

• In the early morning of December 17, 2010, a four-alarm fire gutted the Provo Tabernacle, the pioneer-era landmark begun in 1882 and dedicated in 1898. Investigators concluded the blaze was accidental, traced to a 300-watt light fixture left resting on a wooden speaker enclosure in the attic. The brick walls survived; nearly everything inside did not.
• On October 1, 2011, President Thomas S. Monson announced in general conference: "After careful study, we have decided to rebuild it, with full preservation and restoration of the exterior, to become the second temple of the Church in the city of Provo."
• To build new levels beneath the historic shell, crews reinforced the fire-scarred walls with concrete and carried them on more than 300 metal stilts while excavating 40 feet below.
• Thousands gathered on March 31, 2014, to watch a 13-foot angel Moroni statue set on the center tower. No formal ceremony was planned; the crowd came anyway.
• Construction finished on December 17, 2015, five years to the day after the fire.

• Wood moldings, newel posts, art glass, finials, and hardware salvaged from the tabernacle were worked back into the temple, and the tabernacle's original pulpit now stands in the temple's chapel.
• The Victorian-style interior carries floral motifs in African mahogany and walnut, and stenciling patterns documented on the tabernacle's charred walls informed the design of the bride's dressing room.
• An early-1900s stained-glass depiction of Christ, reclaimed from a demolished Presbyterian church in New York, was installed in the temple.

• Church News reported that a replica painting depicting the Second Coming was recovered from the fire burned through, except for the image of Christ near its center; the charred canvas passed into the Church's keeping.
• The tabernacle hosted sessions of general conference in 1886 and 1887, and U.S. President William Howard Taft spoke there on September 24, 1909.
• More than 800,000 visitors toured the temple during its seven-week open house, and on the eve of dedication 4,500 youth performed a cultural celebration titled "Beauty from Ashes."
• At the cornerstone ceremony, 12-year-old Dylan Edwards and his 7-year-old sister Malaia were invited to finish applying the mortar.