LOGAN – Elder Quinton L. Cook, a member of the Quorum of The Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Logan native, will dedicate the historic Logan Tabernacle on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 6 p.m.
A dedication service is what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses to set aside the building for the work of God. The dedication ceremony includes a special prayer designating the building for Church use and generally includes music and talks from Church leaders.
There is limited space and with the large amount of interest in the dedication the church is giving tickets to select people for the event.
“It is by ticket only in the Tabernacle, and then broadcast to all stake centers in Cache Valley for everyone else,” said Wayne Dymock from the Bear River Communications Council for the church.
The Logan Tabernacle is a unique building in Cache Valley; it is a tourist magnet, a community gathering place and a place of Sunday worship.
When COVID hit the valley, the tabernacle closed, and the remodeling began. It’s been about four years since the building was closed to activities.
The tabernacle was built by early pioneers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and completed in 1891. It took 27 years of hard unpaid labor using all local materials to complete the structure.
Allan Cooley, the Logan South Stake President of the Church of Jesus Christ who oversees the Logan Tabernacle, said he thought the public would be happy with the upgrades.
He said the organ console and pipes have been cleaned and the organ and piano now face the audience.
Most of the organ pipes were repainted and a new Steinway grand piano replaces the old one.
The official seating capacity of the main floor is 1,025 people. The baptismal font has been removed and the whole bottom floor is now meeting rooms. One room will seat 200 people, another will seat 120 people and the smallest room will hold 50 to 60 people.
Cooley said the meeting rooms on the bottom floor will have large screen HD-TV monitors and can be used to stream what is going on upstairs or used for other AV needs.
Two thirds of the top balcony is gone. They have put in a concrete wall in the back and the bell tower was changed on the inside as part of the seismic upgrade.
The benches now have padded backs and seats and the pews are further apart.
All of the lighting is now LED, and the carpet is new and was chosen to look like pioneer day carpet.