Park workers erect pioneer-style bowery
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In an effort similar to an old-fashioned barn-building, more than 60 people worked on two consecutive Saturdays to build a bowery at This Is the Place State Park on Salt Lake City's east bench Sept. 16 and 23.
The thatched roofed, open-air structure is a replica of the shelters on Temple Square that provided protection for early Saints attending church or other public gatherings.On July 28, 1847, Brigham Young designated the site for Temple Square. By July 31, the first of a series of open-sided boweries had been erected on the square.
The original bowery was replaced after two years with a newer and larger bowery that could seat 3,000 people. This, in turn, gave way to the first tabernacle which was completed in 1851. A third bowery was built to the north of this old tabernacle to hold overflow crowds during the Church's general conferences, when no community building could seat all the people who attended.
Boweries also became a staple of outlying community worship - in some communities they were not replaced by tabernacles for several decades.
"Just about every early pioneer village had a bowery, small or large, at one point or another," Brad Probst, assistant park manager, said, explaining that the park would not be complete without one. "The bowery was one of the main structures of the community. They set the bowery up first so they would have some place to meet while they were building the tabernacle."
The new bowery at This Is the Place State Park replaces a smaller structure in Old Deseret Village, a replica pioneer village. Mr. Probst said the smaller bowery was about 20 years old and was starting to fall apart and become unsafe.
The new structure will be used for special events, school and church gatherings and many celebrations throughout Utah's centennial next year.
