Major changes happening to the interior of the Salt Lake Temple during its years-long renovation are coming into clearer view, and church leaders say they will make it more like the original, according to a news release issued Saturday. “The renovated temple will feel more consistent and more like the original Salt Lake Temple from beginning to end,” said Bill Williams, the church’s director of architecture. “As soon as you walk through the doors of the north entry pavilion, it will look like a Victorian-era temple, which was never the case after previous renovations.
I think for most people it will feel like, ‘Wow. Now it feels like the Salt Lake Temple from stem to stern.’” The release included photographs and renderings that illustrate some of the work that is underway.
The work has added 100,000 more square feet to the temple, which allowed the church to add tremendous capacity to the amount of work temple-goers will be able to do in the future. The renovated temple will have a second baptistry, making it one of the first in the church to have two. It also will have 22 sealing rooms instead of 13, increasing the capacity for marriages by 60%.
Church leaders, architects and project managers have said that protecting the temple from earthquakes — the massive undertaking that has taken five years so far — would require substantial change both underneath and inside the temple. The overarching goals included pointing all people to Jesus Christ, protecting the.