Lds Meetinghouse Donated...

[rockpond]

This is cool... Church donates a meetinghouse in SLC to the American Cancer Society. The meetinghouse is dismantled and the usable parts are given to Habitat for Humanity. The land will be used to build a lodge for cancer patients and their caregivers.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57625922-78/lodge-cancer-hope-society.html.csp

[Calm]

Good use of resources.

[The Nehor]

This is ridiculous.

 

We have no record of Jesus ever donating a building to help cancer survivors or giving bits of old buildings to help the homeless so why are we doing it?

 

Clearly this is as out of harmony with the teachings of the Savior as temples, the mall, and the COB.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

This is cool... Church donates a meetinghouse in SLC to the American Cancer Society. The meetinghouse is dismantled and the usable parts are given to Habitat for Humanity. The land will be used to build a lodge for cancer patients and their caregivers. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57625922-78/lodge-cancer-hope-society.html.csp

Good for them, we used to sell them to other churches. The first Atlanta Ward was sold to another church before the more famous Ponce de Leon building was built as a two story, it now has been remodeled a few times over. When the Buchanan Ward (oldest in the south, with bullet holes from it early years) had a building built a few miles away, the Church had it closed down, as a new policy of not making every building of some historical value become a site that must be maintained. It had a cemetery when members were buried for almost two hundred years, so many were upset. It was on "Morman Church Rd" [sic]...because the country folks who disliked it so much could not spell "Mormon" so it remained "Morman" until this day.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

This is ridiculous.

 

We have no record of Jesus ever donating a building to help cancer survivors or giving bits of old buildings to help the homeless so why are we doing it?

 

Clearly this is as out of harmony with the teachings of the Savior as temples, the mall, and the COB.

True, he would just heal them...what was he thinking?

[rockpond]

Good for them, we used to sell them to other churches. The first Atlanta Ward was sold to another church before the more famous Ponce de Leon building was built as a two story, it now has been remodeled a few times over. When the Buchanan Ward (oldest in the south, with bullet holes from it early years) had a building built a few miles away, the Church had it closed down, as a new policy of not making every building of some historical value become a site that must be maintained. It had a cemetery when members were buried for almost two hundred years, so many were upset. It was on "Morman Church Rd" [sic]...because the country folks who disliked it so much could not spell "Mormon" so it remained "Morman" until this day.

 

Interesting.  Thanks for sharing.  I don't think we have that policy of preventing meetinghouses from becoming historical sites nowadays, do we?  Hope not... I love some of the older church buildings especially some of the mid-century ones.

[Gray]

Very admirable!

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

Interesting.  Thanks for sharing.  I don't think we have that policy of preventing meetinghouses from becoming historical sites nowadays, do we?  Hope not... I love some of the older church buildings especially some of the mid-century ones.

A friend of mind did the new design for the new meetinghouse, when he asked about the old, they told him that it costs a lot of money to maintain so many sites, so this was was torn down the week after the new one was dedicated. It was upsetting to many.

[rockpond]

A friend of mind did the new design for the new meetinghouse, when he asked about the old, they told him that it costs a lot of money to maintain so many sites, so this was was torn down the week after the new one was dedicated. It was upsetting to many.

 

Yeah... while I love the older buildings it makes sense for the church to prioritize that way.  Our meetinghouses have always tended to be more on the practical side in terms of design.  They are the "workhorses" of our facilities.  Clearly, the Brethren are willing to spend the money to preserve buildings when it comes to tabernacles and temples (see Provo).

[cinepro]

A friend of mind did the new design for the new meetinghouse, when he asked about the old, they told him that it costs a lot of money to maintain so many sites, so this was was torn down the week after the new one was dedicated. It was upsetting to many.

 

Gotta love the Los Angeles Stake Center (aka "The Los Angeles Tabernacle").  It was built in the 1920's, and the Church spent years (and a small fortune) restoring it and seismically upgrading it about 12 years ago.  But it's an awesome building.  President Hinckley even came out to re-dedicate it in 2004:

 

 

[cdowis]

Good for them, we used to sell them to other churches. The first Atlanta Ward was sold to another church before the more famous Ponce de Leon building was built as a two story, it now has been remodeled a few times over. 

 

 

I was baptized in the Ponce building.  The church had to decide whether to sell the building or to do extensive repairs.  I understand that the church had sold a building in downtown LA and later regretted it because they had to build another chapel in the same area.  So they decided to keep the Ponce building which is in downtown Atlanta.  It has the unique feature of having a "cry room" on the second floor that overlooks the chapel.

 

Unfortunately the downtown area was not a growth area for the church and it is only used by a small branch.

[Tacenda]

I was baptized in the Ponce building. The church had to decide whether to sell the building or to do extensive repairs. I understand that the church had sold a building in downtown LA and later regretted it because they had to build another chapel in the same area. So they decided to keep the Ponce building which is in downtown Atlanta. It has the unique feature of having a "cry room" on the second floor that overlooks the chapel.

Unfortunately the downtown area was not a growth area for the church and it is only used by a small branch.

I went to a church with a cry room. It had glass windows and speakers so you could hear Sacrament meeting. There were two cry rooms, each on the opposite side, facing the podium. And a two story. I like chapels that have the glass windows and doors at the front of the chapel, handy for funerals too.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

I was baptized in the Ponce building.  The church had to decide whether to sell the building or to do extensive repairs.  I understand that the church had sold a building in downtown LA and later regretted it because they had to build another chapel in the same area.  So they decided to keep the Ponce building which is in downtown Atlanta.  It has the unique feature of having a "cry room" on the second floor that overlooks the chapel.

 

Unfortunately the downtown area was not a growth area for the church and it is only used by a small branch.

Correct, a friend of mine designed and made changes to Ponce Building. All my kids grew up attending, YSA and SA dances there. I have spent many Saturday of area meetings for Bishopric training in that building and over at Tucker. Now I am lucky to even get to Cartersville Ward each Sunday, as my wife and I care for my mother full time.

[Coreyb]

Gotta love the Los Angeles Stake Center (aka "The Los Angeles Tabernacle").  It was built in the 1920's, and the Church spent years (and a small fortune) restoring it and seismically upgrading it about 12 years ago.  But it's an awesome building.  President Hinckley even came out to re-dedicate it in 2004:

 

 

why don't we build buildings like this anymore? 

[The Nehor]

why don't we build buildings like this anymore? 

 

The Church Building Department is an odd place. It has been remarked that it often seems like they aren't really a part of the Church.

[Avatar4321]

Forgive my ignorance, what is a cry room?

[Tacenda]

Forgive my ignorance, what is a cry room?

I'll bite.  It's a soundproof room to take babies or toddlers that can be noisy, it comes with a large glass window so you can see what's taking place in Sac. Meeting.   And maybe a good place for some adult conversation.    I can't say why the church discontinued these cry rooms.  It was nice while they lasted.  Fun place to hang out in. 

 

ETA:  I think I found a photo of a chapel with cry rooms.  The Beverly Hills Ward Chapel.  Look closely and see the white drawn curtains, it's the fourth photo down.  I believe there are glass windows behind them.  http://ldsarchitecture.wordpress.com/category/building-features/chapel-interiors/       Also, the 13th photo shows another chapel, the Centerville Utah one.  It was my home ward for several years and has somewhat a cry room.  On both sides of the podium are rooms that you can take your toddlers, but they aren't behind a window but are open, and a wall of doors can slide to close off.  You can see it on the left and on the right shows it with the doors slid closed, but more or less out of view. 

[cinepro]

ETA:  I think I found a photo of a chapel with cry rooms.  The Beverly Hills Ward Chapel.  Look closely and see the white drawn curtains, it's the fourth photo down.  I believe there are glass windows behind them.  http://ldsarchitecture.wordpress.com/category/building-features/chapel-interiors/       Also, the 13th photo shows another chapel, the Centerville Utah one.  It was my home ward for several years and has somewhat a cry room.  On both sides of the podium are rooms that you can take your toddlers, but they aren't behind a window but are open, and a wall of doors can slide to close off.  You can see it on the left and on the right shows it with the doors slid closed, but more or less out of view.

I went to that building for 10 years. The white curtains on the right side of the photo actually open to a large window that shows the small gym. I suspect this was so it could be used as overflow, with the people in the gym viewing the speaker from the side. The cry room is actually behind the pews on the other side of the chapel.  I spent many, many Sundays sitting in that room, and yes, with the right mix of parents, Sacrament Meeting almost turns into the LDS equivalent of watching a DVD movie with the commentary turned on .

 

The main reason I suspect the Church doesn't build these buildings anymore is that they cost a lot to build and maintain, and the ones I've seen with a unique design just weren't as practical as the conventional design we use now.  The Westwood/Beverly Hills Ward building above had a very odd layout, where the primary "chapel" and classrooms were all in an isolated side of the building, so if you were serving in the primary, you could go years without ever seeing the other parts of the building and you would never "bump in" to the non-primary people in the ward. 

 

But dang, the acoustics for the choir were phenomenal.

 

[cinepro]

Another cool feature of the Los Angeles Stake Center is that the baptismal font was located underneath the rostrum, so you would go downstairs to a little room (like at the Tabernacle in SLC).  The room had a mural of Jesus getting baptized in the river Jordan that had been painted by the same artist who had painted the murals in the Los Angeles Temple. 

 

It's nice to live in a regular cookie-cutter suburban ward now, but I'm also glad my kids grew up and were baptized in such unique buildings.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

Gotta love the Los Angeles Stake Center (aka "The Los Angeles Tabernacle").  It was built in the 1920's, and the Church spent years (and a small fortune) restoring it and seismically upgrading it about 12 years ago.  But it's an awesome building.  President Hinckley even came out to re-dedicate it in 2004:

 

 

You are right, that is a beautiful building!

[katherine the great]

I went to a church with a cry room. It had glass windows and speakers so you could hear Sacrament meeting. There were two cry rooms, each on the opposite side, facing the podium. And a two story. I like chapels that have the glass windows and doors at the front of the chapel, handy for funerals too.

Getting rid of the cry rooms was the worst idea to ever come out of church headquarters.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

Getting rid of the cry rooms was the worst idea to ever come out of church headquarters.

I agree, it was a place where you could take a crying baby, feed them and hear everything going on in Sacrament.