SALT LAKE CITY —; President Gordon B. Hinckley, leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, today dedicated the Salt Lake University Institute of Religion building during services held in the new facility's west chapel. University of Utah President J. Bernard Machen offered remarks to the several thousand people who attended the dedicatory meeting, including Church leaders, institute officials, students and invited guests.
The new 114,500-square-foot building is located at 1780 South Campus Drive, adjacent to the University of Utah campus, and can accommodate an enrollment of 10,000 participants.
Plans for the new building were announced in August 2000, and ground was broken in January 2001. The spacious red-brick edifice was completed in time for the beginning of the University of Utah's fall semester.
Latter-day Saint institutes of religion provide religious instruction for students attending public colleges and universities. They also provide opportunities for social interaction and Sunday worship services. All institute classes and activities are open to any young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 who wish to attend, regardless of their faith. Three hundred and fifty thousand students worldwide are currently enrolled in institute programs sponsored by the Church, with approximately 6,000 enrolled in Salt Lake City.
The new building includes two separate wings connected by a glass-enclosed atrium. Each wing includes a chapel for Sunday worship and multipurpose areas for sports and other student activities during the week. The institute building also houses 32 classrooms and 58 offices for staff use. Other features include a library and study areas, lounges, a game room and a service area for prepared foods.
Ralph Swiss, director of physical facilities and real estate for the Church Educational System, said the decision to build an entirely new building was based on a steady increase in student enrollment. "It's a place to go where young people have a chance to associate with those who have the same great high ideals as they do, to interact and to mingle."
In addition, Swiss noted the new facility is designed to better meet the needs of those with disabilities. "There will be easy access to get in and out of the building and elevators to help them reach various levels," he said.
The new building has received enthusiastic response from students and faculty alike. "Nowhere on campus can you get the same feeling that you get at the institute," says student Jenny Gill. Latter-day Saint Student Association President Stephen McConkie added, "It has been an incredible experience to witness the construction, from foundation to completion, of the new institute of religion. It provides a friendly, welcoming atmosphere for students of all faiths and serves as a companion to their secular education."
"Tremendous efforts have been made to design, build and furnish this beautiful building," says Church Educational System administrator Paul Johnson. "It is worth all those efforts and more if the teaching and activities that happen here contribute to building the spiritual lives of our young people."
The Church's institute program began modestly in the fall of 1926 in Moscow, Idaho. In 1935 educator Lowell L. Bennion was appointed to begin the institute program near the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. From 1935 to 1949 those attending institute classes met at the Church's University Ward Chapel located at 160 University Street. Subsequently, an institute building was constructed at 274 University Street. This facility was in use from 1950 to 1965, when institute functions moved to a new structure at 1800 Hempstead Road (now South Campus Drive). This third institute site was in use until fall 2002, when the newest Salt Lake University Institute of Religion building was completed.
Still under construction at the site is a soon-to-be-completed parking terrace.