Climbing the Unfinished Utah State Capitol

Sharing our Links to the Past
by Wally and Frances Gray

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FAMILY HISTORY TIDBITS
By Wally Gray

Climbing the Unfinished Utah State Capitol

Early Theodore Turley descendents, like other early residents of Salt Lake City, had lots of exciting adventures as children which are not possible now. Take the experience of Elsie Lundquist, my late mother-in-law. Elsie (Grace Honor Bushman, Charlotte Turley, Theodore Turley) who was born in Salt Lake City in 1904, grew up in a home on Fifth Avenue between H and I streets. The home was also a grocery store which served as the family’s livelihood.

One winter adventure included sleigh-riding on the gradual hill from Fifth Avenue to South Temple. Other adventures included hiking up City Creek Canyon from Fifth Avenue to 21^st Avenue.

No adventure, however, equaled the joy of climbing up the unfinished state capitol building one Saturday morning. Eleven-year-old Elsie and two of her older teenage brothers were on one of their hikes. They wandered over to the capitol which was in the process of construction and was nearly finished. Let Elsie tell the story:

“No workmen were around. We went inside, then took an outside stairway to the first ramp surrounding the great dome. After we had circled that, we saw a long ladder inside the dome. With no one to deter us, we started to climb it. I was so scared when I looked down, but I couldn’t go back because I had my brothers Roy ahead and Carl behind.

“When we got to the top they opened the door to the observation tower on the very top of the dome. The gust of wind nearly blew us back. We went on top and walked around and saw the whole city. ‘Breathtaking’ puts it mildly. Going back down was almost worse, but our guardian angels must have been with us.”

As if that wasn’t adventure enough, on the way back Elsie couldn’t resist the brilliant colored autumn leaves, so she picked a handful. A man called to her and told her, “Do you know you have poison ivy in your arms?” It took a week to get over that adventure!

(Note: The building was constructed between 1912 and 1916, using granite from nearby Little Cottonwood Canyon. Elsie was probably about 11. Carl would have been about 15 and Roy, about 13.)

An Update

President Hinckley dedicates historic Utah Capitol after 3-year renovation

By R. Scott Lloyd
Church News staff writer

Calling it the "official house of the people of the state of Utah," President Gordon B. Hinckley on Jan. 4 [2008] rededicated the 91-year-old Utah Capitol after extensive remodeling and renovation that had closed the building to the public since 2004.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir participated in a gala program along with the Orchestra at Temple Square, Bells on Temple Square, bell choirs from area high schools, the International Children's Choir, the 23rd Army Band of the Utah National Guard and the Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir School of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.

   "Isn't this a magnificent building?" the 97-year-old Church leader remarked to the audience assembled inside the Capitol's massive rotunda. "These marvelous decorations, this great dome, it's absolutely beautiful, and what a tremendous credit to the state of Utah."

   He noted that it was Jan. 4, marking the 112th anniversary of Utah's entrance as a state into the Union. "And so, in reverence, we bow before our eternal Father in heaven to offer thanks," he said.

   In his prayer, he observed that the Capitol had recently undergone extensive cleaning and refurbishing "until it is brighter and more sparkling than ever before. Isolators have been built under the foundation to save it from seismic activity. Here are housed the offices of the governor and lieutenant governor, the chambers where the Legislature gathers, together with other offices and facilities. This is the official house of the people of the state of Utah. May it be preserved from the elements of nature. May wisdom dictate all that is said and done here. May the people whose building it is feel free to wander its halls and marble staircases, admiring their resplendent beauty."