Assembly Hall: Emily Babcock

I had the opportunity to travel down to Temple Square in Salt Lake City and take a visit to the Assembly Hall. The Assembly Hall is located on the southwest corner of Temple Square. It is a congregational hall holding almost 2,000 people and one of the several buildings that is owned by the LDS church. During my visit to the Assembly Hall, I took several minutes observing and taking pictures of the inside/outside of the building. I noticed the many details of the building and its structure. I enjoyed the stain glass windows, one of which above the main entrance, is the Star of David. Of the many things I discovered and observed, something I found helpful was a small sign standing outside of the building. This sign included a brief history and facts that were very informational to me and others who stopped by to read. Something that I noticed while reading the sign was the statement that reads, Although the building is used mainly for conferences of Latter-day Saint congregations located in Salt Lake City and for other Church meetings, it is also available for various cultural and civic events. One of the things that has been brought up several times in our group discussions is the question, What civic events are held in Temple Square? From this we can see that not only is Temple Square a place for Latter-day Saint events, but it is also a place where certain civic events can take place.

Upon my entrance into the Assembly Hall, I was welcomed by two sister missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I asked them if they knew any interesting information about the Assembly Hall and, sure enough, they did. They proceeded to tell me about some interesting physical features that were unique to the Assembly Hall. One of which was the benches. As you can see in the photo below, the benches look as if they are made of oak. However, the benches are actually made of white pine. They were then painted to look like these oak benches, each line and detail was painted on. As well as the pillars- these too are also made of white pine and were then painted to give them the marble look.

Overall, my trip to the Assembly Hall was lovely. It was fun to be able to research and physically observe such a historic building. My knowledge and understanding of this place was greatly enriched as I asked questions and received answers to previous questions and inquiries I had prior to my visit. With that, I was able to learn and discover that Temple Square is indeed more than just a religious place.