Joseph Smith Memorial Building , originally called Hotel Utah , is named in honor of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter-day Saint movement. It is located on the corner of Main Street and South Temple in Salt Lake City. It is now a social center with three restaurants: The Roof Restaurant, The Garden Restaurant and The Nauvoo Cafe. It is also the venue for the event complete with 13 banquet halls, catering service, event coordinator and full-service flower department - Flower Squares. Several building levels also serve as administrative offices for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Churches) such as FamilySearch. On January 3, 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Hotel Utah.
Video Joseph Smith Memorial Building
History
The Main Street and South Temple corners have long been important in Utah history. Prior to the construction of the Utah Hotel from 1909 to 1911, the general tithe office of the LDS Church, the bishops' warehouse, and the Deseret News printing plant were all located on the site.
Working at the Renaissance Renaissance Awakening Style hotel, designed by the architectural firm of Los Angeles Parkinson and Bergstrom, began in June 1909. Two years later, on June 9, 1911, the Hotel Utah opened for business. While the LDS Church is a major shareholder, many Mormon and non-Mormon communities and business leaders also buy shares in an effort to provide the city with first-class hotels.
"The biggest and best bar in the West [built] in the basement of the Hotel" to pay the construction loan $ 2 million. The financing was secured by the bishop of LDS Church leader Charles W. Nibley, from New York capital Charles Baruch. But the scheme clearly requires the sale of liquor.
Initially, the hotel allowed black employees, but no black guests. This policy is extended to famous entertainers. Lillian Yvanti, Harry Belafonte, Marian Anderson, and Ella Fitzgerald all denied hotel rooms. Anderson was finally allowed to stay at the Hotel, provided he did not use the elevator and ate his food in his hotel room.
The ten-story building has a concrete and steel structure and is covered with terra cotta and white brick. Various additions and improvements have taken place throughout the year, including major expansions to the north and the modification of rooftop dining facilities.
It was featured in the 1973 movie "Harry in Your Pocket" starring James Coburn.
The building ceased operations as a hotel in August 1987. The major renovation and re-adaptation project to accommodate community and church functions was completed in 1993. Church leader Gordon B. Hinckley chose a name when he observed that there were many monuments to pioneer the leader and founder Utah Brigham Young, but none of Joseph Smith.
2011 marks the celebration of 100 years since the initial construction was completed at the Hotel Utah.
Maps Joseph Smith Memorial Building
Current use
The LDS Church now uses this building as follows:
- The large, historic, and decorated lobby with many ornaments, featuring a large white Joseph Smith statue, and large crystal chandeliers. Direct classical music is often shown here as a background.
- FamilySearch Center, where public can use computers and materials provided for family history research and pedigree.
- The Legacy Theater, where the public can view periodic free shows regularly from various films produced by the church. The theater originally showed Inheritance: The Mormon Journey and later also showed The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd , Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration , and < i> Meet Mormon .
- The two restaurants, The Roof and The Garden , on the top floor (tenth), provide a view of downtown Salt Lake City.
- The interior level of home buildings of various church administration departments, including those that support family history centers around the world, and other activities.
- Many rooms on the ground floor, and on the ninth and tenth floor, can be rented for a wedding or dinner reception.
- There is a chapel that is used for Sunday worship services in various downtown wards. The chapel contains a pipe organ Casavant FrÃÆ'¨¨res with 2,484 pipes in 45 ranks in two manuals. The organs are marked with a French accent.
- A pair of peregrine hawks returns annually to nest in a nest box at the top of the building, which has two built-in webcam, visible to the public.
References
External links
- Joseph Smith Memorial Building's Official Website
- The history of the Utah Hotel, Old Postcards
- Falcon Home Page, Utah Natural Resources Division
- The Rooftop Restaurant and The Garden, located on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building
- Digital Collection of Hotel Utah
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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