The following is excerpted from the Church News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Hours after the Salt Lake Temple closed on Dec. 29 for a four-year renovation, workers began removing sacred items and transitioning the working temple to a construction site.
Rich Sutton, temple area director, said this process — called decommissioning — occurs each time a temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is renovated, according to a Newsroom release.
Emily Utt, curator in the Church History Department, added, “The Salt Lake Temple is somewhat unique due to its size and the years of history dating back to 1893. This building has been carefully cared for and preserved for a long time, and it’s a sacred experience to be involved in preparing it for this next important step.”
The first step of the weeks-long decomissioning process is to remove temple clothing, temple records and other sacred items used in temple ordinances from the building. At this point, the temple is no longer considered a dedicated building. Renovation crews enter and workers clean out the temple laundry, offices and custodial closets.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
