“The Assembly Hall,” Friend, May 2010, 6–7
A Year On Temple Square
The Assembly Hall
Come with us this month for a look at an important place on Temple Square.
On a beautiful spring day, Kennidy and Keiton B., ages 11 and 9, of Bountiful, Utah, visited the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. Let’s go along with them to learn more about this historic building.
The Assembly Hall is made with the same granite that was used to build the Salt Lake Temple. While the granite for the temple was polished to look as perfect as possible, the granite for the hall was left rough. That is why the Assembly Hall is a darker color than the temple.
Inside the Assembly Hall, long wooden benches stretch across the main floor and the balcony. Through the years, the hall has been used for general conference overflow, stake conferences, lectures, and concerts.
Keiton and Kennidy look at the Seagull Monument outside of the Assembly Hall. Watch a video on friend.lds.org to hear Kennidy and Keiton tell you the story of the monument. “The story reminds me that Heavenly Father answers our prayers,” Keiton said.
Keiton and Kennidy walk up to the big wooden doors of the Assembly Hall. The early members of the Church met here for church services and general conference when the weather was too cold for them to meet in the large, drafty Tabernacle.
A sego lily is painted in the center of the ceiling. The early pioneers in Utah used the lily’s bulbs for food.
Sister missionaries told Kennidy and Keiton about the Assembly Hall. Here, Keiton knocks on a pillar. All of the pillars look like marble, but they are actually made from pinewood. The pioneers painted the wood to look like marble.
The Nauvoo Bell stands next to the Assembly Hall. The bell hung in the original Nauvoo Temple. When the pioneers left Nauvoo, they pulled the bell in a wagon to Salt Lake. Today, a recording of the bell rings every hour. “I think it is cool that the bell did all of these things so long ago, and now we hear it too,” Kennidy said. “It reminds us of the religious freedom we have.”
Beautiful walkways with trees and flowers surround the Assembly Hall. Kennidy and Keiton take a stroll to look at the outside of the building.
Photographs by Christina Smith