In April 2019, President Russell M. Nelson announced plans for the renovation of the Salt Lake Temple. In December 2019, the Salt Lake Temple was or closed for renovation. The following are regular updates about the progress of the Salt Lake Temple renovation, which is expected to take four years.
May 22, 2020
In the latest stage of the renovation of the Salt Lake Temple, the angel Moroni statue and circular capstone beneath its feet were removed from the temple’s central east spire. These historic items were carried Monday morning through the air to the ground via crane for preservation and refurbishing. This will prepare both items for a later reinstallation. Read more on here.
May 15, 2020
The following video shows progress of the renovation from the south of the temple over the past month. Time-lapse videos will continue to be released regularly throughout the duration of the project.
May 11, 2020
Main construction activities over the past two weeks include:
- Strengthening original foundations on the south side of the temple. This work is accomplished by drilling into the foundations at different angles to create a core through the stones, which is then filled with high-strength grout. The grout not only fills the drilled core but also fills voids and joints of the existing foundation.
- Continuing asbestos abatement (removal) work in the additional buildings north of the temple in preparation for the dismantlement of all exiting facilities at that location, including offices, the chapel, the main lobby, and other structures.
- Continuing removal of tower finials. Each removed finial is carefully inventoried before being crated and stored. All finials will be reinstalled in their original position.
- Installing scaffolding around the towers to allow for the removal of additional stone and decorative elements in preparation for additional seismic retrofit work.
April 24, 2020
Workers continue to make progress on the removal of stone finials, clearing the north side of the site and exposing foundations on the south side of the temple. Efforts from the past week include:
- Continuing to clear the temple grounds of landscaping and sidewalks in preparation for dismantlement of temple annex facilities.
- Ongoing removal of the upper tower finials. As finials are removed, each is carefully labeled and inventoried for reinstallation. All 12 upper finials on the west towers have been removed. Upper finials on the east towers are also being removed. The image on the left highlights a finial being removed.
- Preparing for drilling the first several sections of existing foundation stones on the south side of the temple. This work will strengthen the existing foundation in preparation for base isolator installation in future phases of construction. The image below shows a portion of the exposed historic foundation.
- Retiring and removing the flags and flag pole located west of the temple.
April 15, 2020
Time-lapse videos will be released regularly throughout the duration of the project. The first video highlights progress on the south side of the site.
Work is underway to remove the upper tower finials. This work was planned for a later phase of the project but was brought forward following the seismic event of March 18. A large crane was installed on-site on April 2 to complete this work. Learn more about the process of removing the finials here.
Abatement work to remove lead and asbestos from the existing temple annex on the north side continues.
Backfill of the excavated South Visitors’ Center continues.
View construction updates from January - March 2020.
