Church Administration Building

Tagged content

• ⋮Actions for “It is one of the most recognizable structures in the Church and”

  Open Sign in to save this

  Quote

  It is one of the most recognizable structures in the Church and might be considered the nerve center of Church headquarters, where the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have their offices. But notwithstanding its import, the Church Administration Building, completed a century ago this year, was never dedicated until 1974, following extensive remodeling. On the occasion of this centennial year for the building, the Church News was invited to tour and photograph its interior. “From the time it was opened under the administration of President Joseph F. Smith, it represented the best the Church had to offer,” reflected Reid L. Neilson, assistant Church historian and recorder. “It was new, it was stable, it was strong.” Neilson said the building “gave a sense of permanence, of stability, of longevity, a nod to the future, of hope for generations to come.” Alluding to Doctrine and Covenants 94:3–12, Neilson said the building fulfilled an 1833 commandment that there be “a house for the presidency.” “The idea of a centralized place where the First Presidency would have its office dates all the way back to the Kirtland period,” he said. “Because of their poverty, they weren’t able to realize it, and it took the administration of Joseph F. Smith 84 years later to fulfill that original commandment.” Emily Utt, historic sites curator for the Church History Department, said one of the structures erected in Salt Lake City in 1852 was a governor’s office, which in 1853 became the Church President’s office for Brigham Young. “That was Church headquarters until 1917.” Before that time, she said, “every member of the Twelve would need to find his own office somewhere. Some of them would rent space in one of the office buildings on Main Street; some would just turn their front parlor into an office. But they were spread out.” By 1884, the idea of having a complex of buildings where the Church Administration Building now stands was considered. It would have included offices, meeting rooms, and places for public gatherings but would have necessitated the razing of the Beehive House and Lion House. “I’m so grateful they didn’t,” Neilson said, “but after the turn of the century they decided they needed to bring a number of functions together.” In a general conference talk in April 1917, President Joseph F. Smith, while talking about the completion of what is today the Church Administration Building, spoke of those early days: “As you know, for the last 60 odd years, the Church has had its headquarters in the little old buildings, which were erected by President Brigham Young, away back in the early [18]50s, and which at the time served the purpose very well, and have continued to do so until now. Still, they have become worn with age and not quite in keeping with the progress of things.” ... It was constructed of the rock commonly known as temple granite and quarried from the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon in the mountains east of the Salt Lake Valley, the same stone from which was constructed the Salt Lake Temple, the federal building in downtown Salt Lake City, and, much later, the LDS Conference Center. “I like the idea,” Neilson said, “that you can look at the temple and the Church Administration Building near it and see that they are built from the same granite. It gives the message that it’s the same priesthood that brings these two buildings together.” Construction commenced in 1913, and by February 1917, the building was ready for occupation, first by the Genealogical Society and the Church Historian’s Office, which occupied the top level of the five-story structure. As distinctive as it was, it was not dedicated upon completion. That was for a combination of reasons, Neilson said. One was the influenza epidemic of 1917, which forced the cancellation of public gatherings, including general conference. Other reasons were the mourning by President Smith for the death of his son and the Church President’s own declining health. Not until 1974 would the building finally be dedicated. That year, President Spencer W. Kimball wanted to rededicate the building following renovations. But researchers in the Church’s Historical Department informed him that a first dedication had never been held. “So President Kimball said, ‘Well, now’s the time to finally dedicate the building,’” Nielson related. Known as the Church Office Building until an adjacent 26-story high-rise was completed in 1972 and given that name, the Church Administration Building “was the first effort to bring all of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency into one building,” Utt said. “So every member of the Twelve had a corner office with the administrative offices and areas in between,” Utt explained. That remains true today, with the Twelve occupying offices on the second through the fourth floors. Twenty-one other General Authorities have offices in the building, including the seven members of the Presidency of the Seventy and other General Authority Seventies. On the main level are the offices of President Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors in the First Presidency, President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Also, on the first Wednesday of most months, the First Presidency meets in that room with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Presidency of the Seventy, and the Presiding Bishopric. “It’s a report meeting, where they talk about who has traveled where, what they found, and what they learned,” explained Brook P. Hales, secretary to the First Presidency. “Through the years, whenever they’ve had a VIP visitor, he or she would come here,” Brother Hales said. Guests have included such former United States presidents as George Bush, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan; former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; numerous other heads of state from many lands; and celebrities who performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. ... The adjacent Onyx Room is named for the onyx stone that characterizes it, obtained near Manti, Utah, and used extensively in the temple in that city. In that room is a small cabinet displaying a few of the numerous gifts that have been brought to the First Presidency by visitors from all over the world. ... Located on one of the upper floors are a council room, newly refurbished with a new table, where the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles meet at least twice a week. A nondescript but important part of the building are the two identical rooms adjacent to each other, each containing two large computer screens. In each room a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles sits with an aid from the Missionary Department. These rooms are where assignments for new missionaries are made before the calls are sent to the missionaries. On one screen, the missionary’s application appears; on the other screen are missions where assignments need to be made. Under inspiration, the Apostle makes his decision for each missionary whose application he views. These days the rooms are used almost daily because so many missionaries are being called and assigned. For a hundred years, the Church Administration Building has been a home base for prophets, seers, and revelators. In the early 20th century it helped the Church of Jesus Christ come out of obscurity into the modern age. Today, it helps the Church meet the demands placed on a growing global faith charged with preparing the world for the coming of Jesus Christ in glory.

  President Brigham Young

  .

  • Church Administration Building

  21 Oct 2026