Information about the LDS Conference Center
Concrete
- Approximately 116,000 total cubic yards of concrete (23.5 million gallons) were used in the construction. If these cubic yards of concrete (3′ by 3′ by 3′) were stacked on top of each other, they would form a column 66 miles high.
- The footings for the roof structure are 8 feet thick and 40 feet wide.
Structural
- The main Assembly Hall will seat 21,000 and the Little Theater will seat 900.
- The frame of the building is constructed of reinforced concrete with a steel frame roof.
- The exterior is covered with 2″ thick panels of Little Cottonwood granite on 2 sides and Ashlar Little Cottonwood granite on the east and north face. Ashlar stone is random-length stone laid in a brick pattern.
- The building has 15,000 tons of concrete reinforcing steel.
- The building has 10,000 tons of structural steel.
- #18 rebar (the largest size of readily-manufactured steel) was used throughout. This rebar weighs 14 pounds per linear foot.
- The main (king) truss is 152 feet long and weighs 621 tons (about 4 tons per linear foot).
- The side (radial) trusses are 280 feet long and weigh 550 tons each (2 tons per linear foot).
- A 747 jet airplane could fit in the main Assembly hall, wingtip to wingtip and nose to tail.
- From the roof down to the level of the main stage area is a distance of 140 feet.
- The parking garage has four levels and has 1,300 parking spaces (450,000 square feet).
- The floor space of the entire building is 1.5 million square feet (four times the size of the Tabernacle).
- The main stage area is over 1 acre in size.
- Including the parking areas, the structure covers an entire 10-acre city block.
- At peak construction times, over 1100 workers were on site. Eighty subcontractors were involved in this massive project.
- The granite stones have no mortar around them. Each one was placed individually.
- The chandeliers in the lobby are each connected to a lifting and lowering mechanism. They can be easily lowered for cleaning and bulb replacement.
- The pulpit was milled from a black walnut tree taken from President Hinckley’s family home in the Holladay area of Salt Lake City. President Hinckley planted the tree himself in the 1960’s.
Electrical
- The building has extensive broadcast studio capabilities and language translation facilities. The translation facilities have the capability of translating and transmitting in 60 languages simultaneously. This is second only to the United Nations capability.
- The building has one of the most complete theatrical (lighting and sound) systems in the world.
- The building has 50,000 miles of electrical wire (the circumference of the earth is about 25,000 miles). It also has 780 miles of electrical conduit.
- There are 330 panels for power circuits and 300 panels for lighting.
- The building has an emergency diesel generator (output 2000 kilowatts) and an uninterruptable power supply for critical systems.
Mechanical
- There are 21,000 seats and 28 drinking fountains, thus 1 fountain for every 750 seats.
- There are 340 toilets that use 1.6 gallons of water per flush.
- There are 84 urinals that use 1.6 gallons of water per flush.
- The total peak domestic water usage for the building is 678 gallons of water per minute.
- Every minute 5,930 gallons of water will be pumped through the water features and fountains.
- Every minute 1,035,000 cubic feet of air will be moved through 14 miles of duct work.
- The building has 2,966 tons of air conditioning equipment, equal to about 600 residential homes.
- There are 11 passenger elevators, 12 escalators, and 3 service/stage elevators.
Landscaping
- The roof will be covered with 4 acres of landscaping, including fountains, waterfalls, trees, planters, and flowers.
- There will be a complete irrigation system on the roof.
- Most roofs are built to a weight-bearing specification of 30-40 pounds per square inch. This new building’s roof has a weight bearing capacity of 300 pounds per square inch.
- The roof has an elaborate snow melting system with an extensive water collection system.
Excavation
- Roughly 750,000 cubic yards of dirt were removed prior to construction.
The Pipe Organ
- The organ was designed and built by Schoenstein and Company of San Francisco, California.
- It has a 5-manual console, 130 ranks of pipes, and 7667 individual pipes. By comparison, there are 206 ranks of pipes and 11,263 individual pipes in the Tabernacle organ.
- It can produce the sounds of chimes, bells, harps, and the celesta.
- The builder describes the organ’s tone as “American Romantic, with an eclectic tonal approach that incorporates elements from 19th and early 20th century European organ building practices.”
- It has its own sound system that will amplify the sound. The system is an ‘Electronic Reflection Energy’ system that offers options for enhanced reverberation.
- The cherry wood facade and organ case were constructed by Fetzers, Inc. of Salt Lake City, Utah. The case is 75 feet wide and 42 feet high. All the veneer used on the case came from a single cherry tree. This was a very unique cherry tree. Its trunk was several feet in diameter and the tree was over 200 years old. Amazingly, it grew very near where Harmony, Pennsylvania was located.
- The organ has a playback feature that will allow it to replicate any performance.
- It has a variable tremulant feature that allows the organist to use his feet to increase or decrease the undulating speed of certain of the organ’s more orchestral sounds.
- It has an extremely low bass range, down to a frequency of 130 cycles per second.
(This information was supplied by Legacy Constructors, a joint venture between Okland Construction, Jacobsen Construction, and Layton Construction companies. The organ information was gleaned from the Church News, March 11, 2000.)
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