{"id":2571,"date":"2026-06-23T18:07:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2571"},"modified":"2026-06-23T18:07:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:07:54","slug":"workers-reinstall-salt-lake-temples-legendary-east-doors-as-renovation-reaches-homestretch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2571","title":{"rendered":"Workers reinstall Salt Lake Temple\u2019s legendary east doors as renovation reaches homestretch"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

For generations, newlyweds gathered their families on the Salt Lake Temple\u2019s east steps for wedding and sealing photos.<\/p>\n

Read more Does the Vesper Amphitheater follow Provo\u2019s hillsides and canyons preservation guidelines?<\/a><\/p>\n

The tradition skidded to a close in 2020, when the pioneer-era temple closed for a major renovation.<\/p>\n

The return of brides and grooms to those steps grew closer Tuesday morning as workers wrestled the hulking oak doors that were the backdrop for all those photos back into place at the top of the stairs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a signal that the long restoration project is more than 90% complete, said Tom Lindhardt, project manager of the Special Projects Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/p>\n

Some areas inside the temple are completely done. In others, carpet is being installed and drapes are being hung. Craftspeople are adding finishing touches.<\/p>\n

All of that will be done by August, when furniture and artwork will be installed as the final step. The grounds will be done by late summer, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will reach 100% this fall,\u201d Lindhardt said.<\/p>\n

By September, photographers and videographers will be at work documenting the finished temple and creating a virtual temple tour.<\/p>\n

The reinstallation of the refurbished, reinforced ceremonial temple doors is also a signal that the public open house celebration is growing near.<\/p>\n

\u201cSymbolically, it\u2019s huge,\u201d said Rich Sutton, senior director of the Salt Lake Temple Celebration in the church\u2019s Temple Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese doors are now being installed so we can open the doors of the temple to the public next year,\u201d he said. \u201cThat hasn\u2019t happened since 1893.\u201d<\/p>\n

The public open house celebration will stretch from April 5-Oct. 1, 2027. Free reservations for tours will be available Sept. 1 at TempleSquare.org or in the Temple Square app.<\/p>\n

The east doors have largely been ceremonial since the temple opened, said Jacob Olmstead, senior manager of the Historic Sites Division of the Church History Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were not actually used as an entrance at any point in the history of the temple,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Instead, temple patrons used an annex entrance that provided entry through a tunnel.<\/p>\n

The open house tours next year will begin at the Conference Center across the street from Temple Square. Millions of visitors will walk through a tunnel under North Temple Street to enter the temple.<\/p>\n

But they will end the 45-to-60-minute tour by exiting the temple\u2019s east or west doors, Sutton said.<\/p>\n

The church\u2019s fourth president, Wilford Woodruff, walked the temple site every day in the months leading up to the dedication, Olmstead said. He had expressed concerns about the temple\u2019s cost to other senior church leaders, but his message to the doors\u2019 designer was different.<\/p>\n

President Woodruff told Karl Conrad Schaub to design them as nicely as possible and not worry about the cost, Schaub wrote in his autobiography.<\/p>\n

Read more Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison<\/a><\/p>\n

The carpenter who executed Schaub\u2019s design was Herman August Thorup, who added a monogram to the doors \u2014 THOTL, which stands for \u201cThe House of the Lord,\u201d Olmstead said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reminds us that when we pass the threshold, we\u2019re entering the house of the Lord,\u201d the historian said.<\/p>\n

Each of the two east-side temple doorways has two doors. Each original pioneer-age door is 11 feet tall and 4 feet wide, and they each weigh 580 pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach panel takes six to eight men to manhandle it into place,\u201d Lindhart said.<\/p>\n

Work began in the pink light of sunrise on Tuesday and continued under a blue summer sky. <\/p>\n

Workers removed the doors years ago at the start of the renovation and moved them to a warehouse. Workers then stripped off the worn-out finish.<\/p>\n

Lindhart said he watched a worker use a magnifying glass attached to a headpiece to meticulously go through every crack and groove.<\/p>\n

Workers inserted steel reinforcement into the doors to lengthen their life, then refinished them to the original color using a high-weather varnish.<\/p>\n

\u201cReinforcing the doors is an example of preserving everything we can while also using modern technologies to fortify it against earthquakes or anything else that might come in the future,\u201d Lindhart said. \u201cThat will increase its longevity for the use of church members to participate in temple ordinances, which is the reason it was built, and to preserve the pioneer legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindhart said he\u2019s seen workers use their God-given skills to complete the project and is excited for the world to come and see it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big day, an exciting day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The open house celebration is expected to draw more than 20,000 people per day. The church is seeking 35,000 volunteers to help, Sutton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had an incredible response so far,\u201d he said. \u201cAnyone around the world who can be here then, we will take them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteer applications are available at celebration-volunteer.churchofjesuschrist.org\/volunteer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to invite everyone in the world to come and view the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square, to come and see, and come and feel,\u201d Sutton said.<\/p>\n

Church leaders and celebration organizers recognize that not everyone will be able to travel to Utah, so the church is creating a virtual tour for the Temple Square app.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can\u2019t come to Temple Square, we\u2019ll bring Temple Square to you,\u201d Sutton said.<\/p>\n

Whether people are will be visitors or virtual viewers, they will see a pioneer-era wonder, Sutton and Lindhardt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a very tough project, start-to-finish,\u201d Lindhardt said. \u201cIt\u2019s been like no project I\u2019ve ever had before. No project like this has ever been done in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: The civic virtue of everyday citizens<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Workers reinstalled the iconic east doors of the Salt Lake Temple, a signal that the yearslong renovation project is in its final months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith"],"yoast_head":"\nWorkers reinstall Salt Lake Temple\u2019s legendary east doors as renovation reaches homestretch - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2571\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Workers reinstall Salt Lake Temple\u2019s legendary east doors as renovation reaches homestretch - 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