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For nearly a century and a half, Mormons have sat stiffly on the white pine benches in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, enjoying songs, sermons and symphonies reverberating through the famous hall.
Pioneers handcrafted the pews and painstakingly painted them to look like oak, which was unavailable to them. Though uncomfortable, the pews were among the Tabernacle's defining features.
But when the sacred building reopens next spring, most of the pews will be gone. The LDS Church confirmed Wednesday pews are being replaced by near replicas made of oak as part of the Tabernacle's renovation.
Some of the pioneer pews "are being placed back into the building," LDS spokesman Dale Bills said, adding that "no determination has been made on what will happen to the unused original benches."
Some Utah historians, though, are concerned that the majority of the 1860s pews, currently stored in a Salt Lake City warehouse, may be discarded rather than preserved.
"The Tabernacle is an absolute gem of the world," said David Ericson, a Salt Lake City art dealer who specializes in early Utah artists. "Why would you go to all the expense to preserve the exterior and not the interior and all the things that make the building a one-of-a-kind place?"
Losing the benches "would be the greatest tragedy, the worst thing that could happen," Ericson said. "I can't imagine a preservation architect would even consider allowing it to happen."
Roger Jackson of FFKR Architects, which is overseeing the renovation, refused to comment on the benches.
The loss of the pews will be obvious when the Tabernacle reopens next April in time for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Annual General Conference. The church is even going to broadcast at least one session of the two-day conference from the historic building, James E. Faust of the church's governing First Presidency said at a recent regional conference.
When the Tabernacle renovation was announced in October 2004, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley warned its engineers and architects to "be careful." Every one of his predecessors except founder Joseph Smith had preached in that holy space, completed in 1868. It has long been the home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and once showcased the Utah Symphony.
"I respect this building. I love this building. I honor this building," Hinckley said at the time, standing behind a pulpit first used in the building during the 1880s. "The temple and the Tabernacle in my mind remind me of two venerable old parents. The temple the father, the Tabernacle the mother. Parents of generations that have followed, still standing and shedding light and understanding and knowledge and love, and I bow before them in reverent respect."
Hinckley was adamant nothing should be done to alter the Tabernacle's historic aspects. Small and grand details - from the rawhide straps in the roof to the elliptical lattices that hold up the oval-shaped dome without interior supports - have helped make the building famous.
"I don't want a modern 2004 or 2005 building. I want the old, original Tabernacle," he said.
Since then, the balcony has been resloped, with fewer levels. New staircases leading up to it have been added. But few interior aspects of the building are more historically significant than the white pine benches. They were built in 1868, a year before the railroad arrived, making it possible to transport raw materials from other states.
Carol Edison, folk arts program manager for the Utah Arts Council who knew nothing of the renovation decision, marvels at the skill and care that went into the benches - considering they were made in the days before power tools.
"That makes me really sad. I hate to see us lose that heritage and those objects of art that should be saved."
She hopes the church has hired similarly skilled craftsmen to build new pews.
In 2004, Presiding Bishop David Burton said the renovation would add new dressing rooms, restrooms and a library for the choir's 350 singers and 100 musicians.
Burton also mentioned that there might be more legroom between the benches. He estimated the building could lose 1,000 seats if the church decided to change the seating, but back then, no one was talking about replacing the benches altogether.
"Today's building codes were probably driving the decision," to replace the pews, said Allen Roberts, a Salt Lake City architect specializing in historical preservation who is not involved in the Tabernacle's renovation.
Wilson Martin, the state's historic preservation officer, also had no knowledge of the removal of the pews. In general, he said, old furniture is often replaced "in order for the building to survive."
"Furniture is not the building. Historic building interiors often change to meet modern-day needs."
Roberts, though, doesn't want to see the pews get dumped. "I hope [the church] stockpiles the benches," he said, "and they find their way back into other LDS historic buildings."