Bountiful Tabernacle

Page 2

CONDITION -EXCELLENT ^JOOD -FAIR CHECK ONE -DETERIORATED RUINS -UNALTERED -J<ERED CHECK ONE J&RIGINALSITE MOVFP DATF -UNEXPOSED DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE The original part, the chapel, is a rectangle 40' by 80' with a portico over the front entrance and a small utility room at the back. The foundation is of stone, 6 feet thick and 9 feet high. The walls are of adobe, 3 feet thick. The exterior has been covered with plaster or stucco for at least half of the building's life. The single centered inset tower is capped by five spires. The roof is shingled. The gable is of medium pitch with a boxed and returned cornice and a decorated frieze of wood. On each side wall were three large 3-sashed recessed windows with capstone lintels and brick sills, Directly underneath were basement windows in the stone foundation, A later addition covered the windows on the north. The only windows in the front facade are 2 half-round ventilators in the wall and in the porch. The main entrance is composed of 2 doors under the portico. The portico follows the line of the main gable. It is supported by 6 fluted columns of wood, the stairs originally descending to ground level both to the front and sides. The basement inside is devoted to small classrooms. The main floor is a single room. Its walls are plastered with a 4 foot high wooden slat paneling around the bottom and a decorative, possibly hand-carved r oulcling around the top. There are three chandeliers hanging from carved mountings. In the rear is a balcony, approached from the sides by winding staircases. It is supported from beneath by fluted columns and from above by square ones. These columns are of wood and are pail&ed in a "marbled" pattern similar to that on the columns in the tabernacle in Temple Square, On the front of the balcony is a facade of decorative woodwork. The rostrum in front starts out from a 15 foot section of the rear wall, then forms a large, irregular circle with an approximate 25 foot diameter, standing away from the walls and hiding two access doors to the rear. It is largely surrounded by a railing supported by carved newell posts. It is level from the podium to the first r©» of seats, then rises with each of 5 rows of choir seats. On the rear wall over the choir is a mural in green, gray and white, featuring a bust of Joseph Smith in an alcove surmounted by 2 cherubim holding a banner which reads "Holiness to the Lord." The only apparent alterations in this original patt are a new stairway from the portico outside, descending only to the front the original descended to the sides as well with an added 4 iron railings; and a large door, folding, on the north side leading to the new amusement hall and replacing two of the windows. The two additions, to the north side and to the rear a cultural hall and a Relief Society room and kitchen both with full basements, are well integrated to the exterior style of the original building.