A series of sesquicentennial activities for the historic Illinois city of Nauvoo is planned for 1989, the First Presidency announced this week.

The main event of the 150th anniversary observance will be the dedication of the newly renovated site in nearby Carthage, where Joseph Smith was killed in 1844.The complex includes the old Carthage Jail, an expanded visitors center, commemorative monuments, a life-size statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, landscaping and convenient off-street parking.

The dedication is scheduled for June 27, the 145th anniversary of Joseph Smith's death.

With completion in 1989 of the Carthage complex and four smaller projects, no further restoration is planned in the Nauvoo area, said Elder Loren C. Dunn. He and Elders Jacob de Jager and John Sonnenberg constitute the officers of Nauvoo Restoration Inc., as well as the Presidency of the North America Central Area of the Church.

"We plan to begin the final construction and renovation projects this coming summer and hope to complete them before bad weather sets in," said Elder Dunn.

"After this year, Nauvoo Restoration Inc., will continue to function, but in an operations and maintenance mode," Elder Dunn explained, "rather than one of construction.

"With the homes and shops the Church has restored over the years, plus the visitors centers at Nauvoo and Carthage, there is enough of a flavor of the old city NauvooT now to give people a good idea of how it was," said Elder Dunn.

He emphasized that the restoration projects, which began in the early 1960s, are all being accomplished with donated funds.

Elder Dunn explained, "All of the historic sites in Nauvoo and Carthage are being run by Church-service personnel and will continue that way." He said the Illinois Peoria Mission will continue to provide missionary couples for the visitors center, homes, and shops in the two cities.

Nauvoo is situated on the Mississippi River across from the southeast corner of Iowa. On April 30, 1839, two farms were purchased by the Church at Commerce, Ill., the first land purchases in what became Nauvoo. Nauvoo served as headquarters of the Church until 1846 when, after the Prophet Joseph Smith's death, Brigham Young led the saints west to the Great Salt Lake Valley.

At its zenith in the 1840s, the population of Nauvoo of some 12,000 people rivaled that of the fledgling city of Chicago.

Nauvoo today has a population of about 1,000 and includes one major business: a cheese factory.

The Nauvoo Ward has a membership of about 350 people, including five or six residents of Carthage. Ward boundaries encompass a 30-mile radius and extend into Iowa and Missouri.

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EVENTS PLANNED TO COMMEMORATE CITY'S FOUNDING

Sesquicentennial observance of the founding of Nauvoo, Ill., in 1839 includes:

-Dedication of the Carthage complex on June 27.

-Refurbishing of the seven-acre Pioneer Saints Cemetery in Nauvoo, which was recently acquired from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

-Reconstruction of the Reiser Cobbler Shop on its original Nauvoo site.

-Rebuilding of the Stoddard Tinsmith Shop, which is now a ruin, with only portions of the original walls standing.

-The building of public rest rooms.

-Production of two new films to be shown to visitors, one on the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith, to be shown at the Carthage Visitors Center; and an introduction to Nauvoo, to be shown in the Nauvoo Visitors Center. Both films are being produced by the Church's Curriculum Department.

-"City of Joseph Pageant" scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday, Aug. 8-12.

-A day-long Nauvoo Symposium, scheduled for Sept. 21, at BYU.

-Completion in 1990 of an official history of Nauvoo, commissioned by the Church and written by the late T. Edgar Lyon in collaboration with Glen M. Leonard, director of the Museum of Church History and Art.

-A Nauvoo edition of the publication, BYU Studies.