Paradise Ward in the news
The local Utah media is finally reporting on this building. Several of my photos from this site were on a KUTV News story covering the building this evening.
And here are some other news stories that were posted today as well:
HJ News – Once upon a chapel: 133-year-old LDS church in Paradise to be razed
Deseret News – One of Utah’s oldest Mormon chapels to be demolished
Salt Lake Tribune – One of Utah’s oldest Mormon chapels to be razed
9060 S 200 W
Paradise, UT
Original Chapel built 1877
Classrooms added 1902
New chapel addition 1952 by architect Lawrence D Olpin
Cultural Hall addition 1979
Scheduled to be torn down April 2012
Map Location of Building
Paradise Ward Farewell
Yesterday I was fortunate to visit this building for the first time. It also happened to be the last day that worship services would be held. Even though it was Easter Sunday, members of the ward lingered long after services to reminisce, take pictures and just to sit and enjoy the Chapel for the last time while the bell in the tower rang outside for the small community of Paradise to hear.
As you can see, part of the building has already been removed exposing the original stone of the 1877 chapel. There was a nice display in the lobby with old photos of the chapel, some of the original stone as well as drawings of the new building to replace this one. Apparently they will save the bell to put into the new steeple. This bell was part of the original 1877 chapel. Also, some of the original stone will be used on the front elevation as a decorative feature.
Some of my favorite features of the building were the exposed stone, the railing in the lobby, the cry room in the balcony behind glass, the pulpit, the hand-painted flowers throughout the chapel, the abundance of natural light in the chapel, and the pews up in the cry room. I may be completely wrong, but if I were to guess, I would say those pews in the balcony are from the original building. The pews down in the chapel appeared to be from the 1952 addition. Rumor has it that some of the interior painting in the chapel was done by the same artist who painted scenes in the Salt Lake Temple Celestial room.
There was an attempt to save the building and have it be used as a community center that made it all the way to the First Presidency, but that request was denied. As a result the building that has stood here as a centerpiece for the town since 1877 will very soon be demolished.
9060 S 200 W
Paradise, UT
Original Chapel built 1877
Classrooms added 1902
New chapel addition 1952 by architect Lawrence D Olpin
Cultural Hall addition 1979
Scheduled to be torn down April 2012
Map Location of Building
Paradise Ward Demolition
Sadly, I just found out that the historic Paradise Ward meetinghouse in southern Cache County will be torn down in the next several weeks. The Chapel is right in the center of town and I don’t yet know why it will be torn down or what the plans are for the site. I haven’t done a lot of research on this building yet, but I believe the original chapel was built in either 1882 or 1886. In 1952, the original chapel was divided internally into classrooms and the steeple was removed when a larger chapel and steeple was built as an expansion to the original building. Finally in 1979 a large Cultural hall addition in the back was added. According to my source, the last Sunday of services will be Easter Sunday. If anyone has additional information on this building or its demolition, I would be interested to hear about it.
9060 S 200 W
Paradise, UT
Original Chapel built 1886?
New chapel addition 1952
Cultural Hall addition 1979
Scheduled to be torn down April 2012
Map Location of Building
LDS ARCHITECTURE 