Once upon a chapel: 133-year-old LDS church in Paradise to be razed

Easter Sunday service inside the Paradise 2nd and 3rd Ward chapel was the last for the landmark stone building.

Next month, the 133-year-old church in the center of town will be leveled to make room for a new chapel that will serve nearly 1,000 Latter-day Saints in southern Cache Valley.

The pioneer-era church is one of the oldest Mormon chapels in Utah and, according to church historians, exhibits the uncommon craftsmanship employed by early settlers. The limestone rock chapel, completed in 1877, features architecture and construction techniques shared by earlier LDS churches and temples.

Some of these early-settler builders had worked on the Nauvoo temple, and could have naturally incorporated their knowledge of temple architecture into the design and construction of the new rock church, said Garth Norman, a contract archeologist for the LDS Church. It is said the pioneer rock church in Paradise was being built to last forever, assuming the 28-inch-thick stone walls would endure.

Generations later, they have. Norman said there is no evidence of cracking in the buildings hardened limestone walls.

Its likely construction on the Paradise chapel began in 1876 with the placement of four large cornerstones. The practice, says Norman, has both practical and theological ties.

In the temples, these stones were dedicated to Christ, the chief cornerstone at the southeast corner and offices of the priesthood at the other three corners, all reaching out to administer the restoration of the gospel to the world, he said.

Dig deeper and youll find other connections that Norman says link the Paradise building to some of the earliest church architecture. The length of the original rock church, for example, is twice its width the same design used for the largest room of the Nauvoo temple.

With so much history built into the Paradise church, top leadership carefully considered preserving the enduring structure.

Hyrum Stake President Steve Miller, the top ecclesiastical leader over the four wards in Paradise, said the churchs First Presidency was even in on the conversation to save the building, but ultimately decided to build anew.

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Once upon a chapel: 133-year-old LDS church in Paradise to be razed