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Summarized by Kent Larsen
The Invasion of the Saints
Time Magazine 10Jul00 N1
By David Van Biema
NAUVOO, ILLINOIS -- Major articles this weekend, the first in Time Magazine
and three related articles in the Deseret News, look at the LDS Church's
construction of a Temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, the effort going into the
Temple and the effect that the building will have on the town.
Time's article is part of a special issue of the magazine which looks at
towns along the Mississippi. Van Biema notes that Nauvoo is different from
other Mississippi river towns because it has "two histories and two
identities." Mormons remember the town's history as a Mormon capital and the
building of the LDS Temple there, and its memory has become a kind of Mormon
Camelot, attaining, as Richard Ostling, co-author of "Mormons in America"
says, the status of a lost ideal.
But Mormons know relatively little about the town's history after their
people left Nauvoo, which transformed it into a predominantly Catholic
community of 1,200 people. With the LDS Church's return to the town,
personified by the reconstruction of the Temple, Van Biema says that Mormons
are recovering their past and achieving a kind of redemption. But, he notes,
"The irony is that in doing so, they may erase the identity of the community
of 1,200 people that grew up in the interim."
And the proposed construction did cause controversy, as citizens of Nauvoo
felt invaded, "We felt, hey, you're going to take away our quiet little
town," says John McCarty, a Nauvoo city council member. "But the church
never had a concept of that. They were just going to get their temple." But
the situation isn't quite that simple. The plan to build the Temple
acknowledged that it would bring an estimated 1 million tourists to the town
each year, along with the tourism dollars that they bring. To ease the
burden the LDS Church gave the town $471,000 for expenses and paid for Ken
Millard, an LDS Church member, to serve as city planner, a position the town
didn't have until the Church provided it.
But many in the town also knew that tourists aren't always pleasant, and
that many Mormon tourists seemed to feel like they own the town, even before
the Temple reconstruction was announced. City planner Millard acknowledges
that some Mormons have exhibited "an arrogance and ownership" of the town.
Merchants on Main Street in Nauvoo go farther, telling stories of tourists
that left goods on the counter when they discovered that the merchant wasn't
an LDS Church member.
But the deal may well mean the death of the Nauvoo that has existed since
soon after the last Mormons left in 1848. The announcement has brought an
even greater influx of Mormons to Nauvoo, as Mormon ownership of town land
has increased to 32%, a BYU extension has opened in a former Catholic
boarding school and house prices in the Flats area of town have risen from
$20,000 to $250,000, raising tax assessments on those that choose not to
sell. And local politicians note that it will take just 900 Mormon
immigrants to give the town a Mormon majority again.
Some in town resent the changes. Jane Langford, owner and publisher of the
Nauvoo New Independent says, "They want to take back Nauvoo, and since they
can't do it with guns, they are doing it with money." Others fear that the
town will outlaw alcohol if LDS Church members get control, "I own the Draft
House in Nauvoo," says Sonja Bush, "and was informed tonight that the city
planner (LDS Church member Millard) referred to it as 'a place of sin.' Boy!
You should have seen it. Wednesday is 'Chicken Nite' and a lot of our
sinners were in their 60s to mid-80s. They were kicking up their heels and
having a sinful good time!"
But Biema says its hard to imagine such a statement from Millard, who
instead says that the Church isn't trying to change the town, "We don't want
to see change in Nauvoo," he says, "yet there's no way you can stop [it]."
But he adds, "The church believes in unity and harmony, and the official
position is to work things out. But when there's a goal to accomplish, they
like it to be accomplished."
Meanwhile, the Deseret News' articles look at the Temple from a purely LDS
standpoint. One article by Stephen Martin reports on difficulties with the
Temple's construction due to heavy rains in Nauvoo last week, and another by
Carrie Moore talks about the feelings that LDS Church members have about
Nauvoo and its Temple, recounting the history of the building and the
collection of artifacts from the original building.
But the most interesting of the Deseret News' three articles is Moore's
story about the efforts by architects and historians to piece together
exactly what the original Temple looked like and to make the new Temple look
as much like the original as possible.
According to Moore's article, soon after President Hinckley announced that
the Temple would be built, the Church assembled a committee of Church
members familiar with the original building to provide suggestions. In
addition, architect Roger Jackson, a principal at FFKR Architects in Salt
Lake City, has been provided and compiled evidence from journals, diaries,
letters, archaeological excavations and an original construction materials
roster to attempt to duplicate the original building. For the past eight
months, Jackson and his team have immersed themselves in the details of the
building.
The building's interior, which will already be significantly different from
the original because of modern building codes and current Temple
requirements, is the biggest difficulty for the architects. Many details are
simply not known. "There is no known photograph on one side of the temple,"
says former construction manager Robert Dewey, "and the available photos
show only the building's exterior."
Other records used by the architect include the original architectural
drawings for the Temple, prepared by William Weeks, which were obtained by
the Church in 1948 when two LDS missionaries knocked on the door of his
grandson, and offered the plans to the Church.
Moore's article also talks about some of the accommodations that the
architects are making to meet building codes and Temple requirements, as
well as the many offers of donated materials and effort to build the Temple.
Unlike with all other modern building projects, the LDS Church is accepting
volunteer work on the Temple from skilled craftsman and donated materials
from those that meet quality requirements.
See also:
Heavy rains cause big problems at Nauvoo Temple
Deseret News 2Jul00 N1
By Stephen A. Martin: Deseret News correspondent
City and church crews remove water-logged soil at the annex site
Edifice holds dear spot in hearts of LDS faithful
Deseret News 2Jul00 N1
By Carrie A. Moore: Deseret News religion editor
Resurrecting a temple
Deseret News 2Jul00 N1
By Carrie A. Moore: Deseret News religion editor
Nauvoo building will have fine, old craftsmanship and up-to-date technology
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