BYU 48-ward conference center ready for fall
The newly constructed, 54,000 square foot BYU 48 Ward Conference Center in Provo houses four stake suites with 48 bishop offices and a 700 seat chapel, photographed on Friday, August 3, 2012. SPENSER HEAPS/Daily Herald
PROVO — There are no basketball hoops or wood playing floors in BYU’s new 48-ward conference center at 300 North and 900 East. There is, however, the technology to keep the state-of-the-art building relevant for the next 40 years.
Jared Doxey, a meetinghouse construction supervisor for the LDS Church, said the unique meetinghouse is 54,234 square feet and has 420 parking stalls. “This is one of 350 new or added onto buildings we’ve done this year and is far and away the largest meetinghouse ever built,” he said.
Doxey noted it is as large as some of the largest temples in the church.
The building houses four stake offices and 48 bishop’s offices. The chapel’s seating capacity is about 700 with 1,300 overflow capacity. It will not, however, house any actual LDS wards. The building will only be used for stake conferences. There will be two held every Sunday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. All BYU stakes will hold their conferences in the building as will local family stakes. Most of these congregations utilized the old Provo Tabernacle for stake conferences before it burned.
Doxey noted that the ward conference center, which is similar to the Bountiful regional center, was already in process of being built when the tabernacle burned.
The church had several reasons to build a new building, but the biggest was because LDS leaders were sharing offices with BYU faculty and conflicts arose during the week when both needed office space for interviewing and prep time.
“There were bishops sharing offices with professors on campus. This gives them their own offices for interviewing ward members,” Doxey said. “Local priesthood leaders and a design team worked together to come up with a plan that would fill the needs of the students and ecclesiastical leaders.
When the building was first announced, Gary McGinn, Provo’s director of community development, said, “This will be a good addition to Provo city. It will provide an important service to the many BYU students that live in that area. While it is a very large building, they did a great job of designing it to fit into the surrounding area.”
The building’s sapphire, cream and cherry wood accents and 267 pieces of art give a rich look to a building that was relatively inexpensive to build. Because of the recession prices were low, construction workers were easy to hire and the design made building costs per square foot come in at the same price as some of the homes in the area, according to Doxey.
The building sits on property that for several years was owned by the Catholic church and where the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic school was located. The land was sold to the LDS Church by Meridian School.
The facilities also will be available for the community at large. Doxey said the church has an outreach program that welcomes other denominations when LDS wards aren’t using the building.
“I’m sure this building is going to be used heavily,” Doxey said. While the building will not be dedicated until early September, bishops and Institute classes are already using it.
“Bishops have their tithing slips out so it looks like they’ve moved in,” Doxey said. He added that with four kitchens and partitioned activity areas, four weddings could happen at one time. Events from youth conferences to dances will be held there as well.
Some of the features include high-efficiency utilities, xeriscaping around the exterior and the technology. According to Doxey, ward and stake buildings in the future will reflect what is already in this building, such as webcasting in place of satellites.
“We’re moving towards a virtual library, we’ll be doing webcasting and everything is wireless,” Doxey said. “Even the chairs are designed for easy cleaning and to get the Cheerios out.”
Doxey noted that the building is connected to Provo’s fiber optic network. “When the network was put in, it was intended for this very purpose,” city spokeswoman Helen Anderson said.
Member maintenance and housekeeping was important in the building of the center. There have been hundreds of improvements to help maintain it, from new styled hinges on the doors to ceramic sinks in the bathrooms, light fixtures that hide the dead bugs and carpets that don’t stain.
The stain-free carpet is a story in and of itself. It was developed as a collaboration between the BYU chemistry department, the carpet industry and a 12-person committee working for a year.
“They patented a process on how the fiber is dyed,” he said. “Carpets are our biggest maintenance issue.”
According to Doxey, the numerous lists of items that are helping with the sustainability and technology in the center are also reducing the carbon footprint inside the facility. Utility expenditures are down 50 percent and even the glass in the windows and doors has a solar band coating the reflects the sun and reduces heat.
A regional conference and the broadcast of the Brigham City Temple dedication in September will showcase the capacity of the new conference center.
