A new beginning for L.A. visitors center
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
LOS ANGELES
The newly renovated Los Angeles Visitors Center opened Aug. 6 with a special evening of tours and exhibit demonstrations for local priesthood leadership and their spouses within the Los Angeles temple district. Along with Elder Richard G. Hinckley of the Seventy and Elder Jerry Garns, Area Seventy, and his wife, Mary Lynn, approximately 250 guests enjoyed a picturesque Southern California summer evening as they toured the visitors center, located at Overland and Santa Monica Boulevard in west Los Angeles. The building had been under renovation for the past three years.
Located on Temple Hill, adjacent to the Los Angeles California Temple, the completely refurbished visitors center's grounds feature new palm trees, bright flowers, lush foliage and a restored statue garden with familiar images of families in various poses.
Boasting an expanded interior space of 2,800 square feet, the extra room makes it possible to showcase the marble statue of "The Christus" as the centerpiece of the building. The statue is an 8-foot-tall copy of the original by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) that stands in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark.
"The statue of the resurrected Savior with outstretched arms surrounded by a beautiful new mural is a welcoming place where missionaries can teach and testify that He is the center of our beliefs," said Elder Hinckley.
A large new entrance foyer is lined with angled glass walls that open to a state-of-the-art information screen. Projected images on a translucent wall showcase the special exhibits and encourage participation at the various stations and venues. The increased square footage creates easy access to all locations.
Contemporary carved pillars topped with ceramic palm tree fronds maintain a California feel as they surround a well-trimmed, multi-stationed interactive center. The latest advances in technology highlight this and other areas throughout the center, giving visitors many opportunities to stop and become familiar with the Church.
One room was dedicated specifically to the old world of Jerusalem. It is detailed with ancient, architectural touches intended to replicate the era surrounding Jesus Christ's ministry. A 3-D model of the great city is displayed along with a video wall depicting the landscape as it passes through a time-lapse representation. Guests are transported to vistas of the Holy Land and left with a sense for the sights and sounds of where Jesus walked and taught.
Among the many stations is a simple shelf lined with copies of the Book of Mormon in various languages. As guests remove a volume representing their native tongue, the language of that particular copy is displayed above them on a wide-screen monitor. In most cases, that visual image is accompanied by a narrator reading a specific passage from the Book of Mormon.
In the area highlighting humanitarian service, people from many nations and circumstances are captured in larger-than-life photos depicting them following Jesus Christ's example by loving and serving their neighbors. Interactive video screens tell their story in alternative languages.
A favorite in the center was the neatly appointed room, "God's Plan for His Family." In that room, a video is displayed across three different flat screens simultaneously.
As one of the newest developments in public exhibits for the LDS Church, guests were encouraged to use flash drives to download favorite selections.
