^^^
SLO, below is a some interesting trivia regarding the Conference Center.
LDS Conferece Center: One of the aspects that impresses me most about this giant building is
how it interfaces with it's neigborhood. To the south it's facade and plaza are indicative of it's downtown environs
as a monumentaland cultural neighbor. As I walked around it a couple of days ago, I was taken back by the now
maturing landscaping covering it's terraced walls to the east and north. This combined with it's rooftop gardens
make for visual feast for the historic downtown neighborhoods, which are immediately adj. to and either surround
or climb abruptly on two of it's sides. Even those living in high-rise towers to the immediate north have beautiful
gardens to look down on instead of a giant, sterile and vapid roof.
Aquistbe
Interior of Assembly Hall, seating over 22,000 people, is the largest of it's kind in the world.
Pictured, is a weekly rehearsal session of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This venue is often used by the Choir
instead of it's famous, traditional venue, because of it's seating capacity. Ongoing conventions, LDS faithful, and
tourists had often overwhelmed the capacity of the historic tabernacle on Temple Square. The hall is also used
as host for major holiday pageants and as a concert hall for renowned opera soloists or performing artists, etc.,
where seating demand is too high for other downtown venues.
ben4t2
BratoDB
The 1.4 million square foot (130,000 m2) Conference Center seats 21,200 people in its main auditorium. This includes
the rostrum behind the pulpit facing the audience, which provides seating at general conference for 158 general authorities
and general officers of the church and the 360-voice Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The auditorium is large enough to hold
two Boeing 747s inside. All seats in the audience have an unobstructed view of the pulpit because the balcony is held
up by radial trusses. This construction method allows the balcony to sink 5⁄8 inches (15.8750000000000 mm) under
full capacity. Behind the podium is a 7,667-pipe and 130-rank Schoenstein pipe organ. Underground is a parking garage
that can hold 1400 cars. A modernist, three-story chandelier hangs in a skylight in the interior of the building.
External walls of the Conference Center are clad in precisely-cut granite. A 92-foot (28 m) glass-centered spire denotes
the religious purpose of the building. A 67-foot (20 m) stepped waterfall descends from the spire. The waterfall utilizes
water from a natural spring found underneath the building during construction. City Creek flows in a rough-hewn
riverbed, complementing the Conference Center.
Because the building sits near the base of Salt Lake City's Capitol Hill, the roof is landscaped for attractiveness. About
3 acres (12,000 m²) of grass and hundreds of trees have been planted on the roof. Twenty-one native grasses were
employed to conserve water and showcase local foliage. The landscaping is meant to echo the mountains and meadows
of Utah.
Conference Center Theater
The Conference Center Theater Attached to the main building on the northwest corner is the 850-seat Conference
Center Theater that can be used as a dedicated theater or as an overflow room.
Planning and construction
The design of the Conference Center was accomplished by Portland, Oregon-based Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership,
which was the design architect and Auerbach & Associates of San Francisco, which was responsible for theater design
and architectural lighting. The designs were solicited by LDS Church architect Leland Gray in the early 1990s,
apparently at Gordon B. Hinckley's request.[citation needed] Hinckley was then a counselor in the First Presidency,
but became President of the Church in 1995. The LDS Church originally sought a 26,000-seat building no more than
75 feet (23 m) high in accord with zoning regulations for the LDS Church-owned 10 acre (40,000 m²) block immediately
north of Temple Square. Hinckley publicly announced the project in the April 1996 general conference. The final plans, completed in late 1996,
featured 21,200 seats in the main hall with 905 in the side theater.
Contracting for the building was done by three Salt Lake City firms: Jacobsen, Layton, and Okland construction
companies which submitted a joint bid in order to compete with national firms. The companies jointly operated
under the name "Legacy Constructors" after winning the contract in late 1996.