SALT LAKE CITY — The historic Salt Lake Temple is officially prepared for future seismic activity following a major engineering milestone that transferred the building’s weight to a new base isolation system, church officials announced.
Following two decades of planning and more than six years of intensive construction, crews completed the structural transition on June 25. Workers removed more than 1,500 bolts connecting 392 stabilizing plates to the system. The plates had secured the 98 base isolators, located 20 feet beneath the foundation of the landmark structure owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“This is a milestone moment for this whole project,” said Brad Bohne, general superintendent with Jacobsen Construction. “The temple is set free. Free to move now during an earthquake, so a big deal for us.”
Nathan Espinoza, an assistant project manager with Jacobsen Construction, added that the specialized protective system “is unlike anywhere else in the world.”
The structural milestone coincided with the return of the temple’s historic oak exterior doors. The west doors were reinstalled in early June, while the east doors were returned to their frames between June 23 and June 25.
Richard Sutton, senior director in the Temple Department over the Salt Lake Temple Celebration, said the doors serve as a key visual sign that the building will eventually reopen for regular worship.
Other ongoing updates include the installation of stone paving embedded with snowmelt tubing outside the temple to clear winter weather. Inside, crews have laid carpet in the celestial room and hung decorative chandeliers above the east baptismal font.
The public is invited to attend the Salt Lake Temple Celebration, scheduled from April 5 to Oct. 1, 2027. Applications to volunteer, perform or guide during the event are open through July 15.