By Melody Ann Feist
Nearly three years after President Gordon B. Hinckley''s announcement to rebuild the Nauvoo temple, the edifice is finally completed.
Throughout the building process, historians and architects collaborated to construct a temple that is both historically and architecturally correct.
'Most people want to know if the temple is the same as the first one,' said Roger Jackson, lead architect of the Nauvoo Temple. 'The answer is yes, outside, and no, inside.'
Glen Leonard, director of the Museum of Church History and author of 'Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise,' said the church has a number of journals, letters, and documents that gave builders an idea of what the original temple looked like.
'William Clayton wrote a history of the construction of the temple,' Leonard said. 'He gave us great detail about what each of the rooms looked like - everything from the furniture in the celestial room to the paintings on the walls.'
However, Leonard said specifications for the outer structure were anything but easy to attain.
Much of the artwork depicting the temple was not as helpful when it came to building the temple, he said.
'Travelers up and down the Mississippi River would paint or sketch the temple because it was important as a landmark,' Leonard said. 'The only problem was that the artwork was very generalized because it was only an image of what the artist saw. In some cases the proportions were way off.'
Jackson said the men and women who worked on the temple did an amazing job with what they had.
'The craftsmen truly did their best work,' he said. 'Builders today are not as likely to do something as finely ornamented, so these craftsmen really took the opportunity to showcase their talents. Many of them will rarely have the chance to do this kind of work again.'
Jackson said the positive attitude of the workers was infectious.
'A lot of these people were members, but some were not,' he said. 'When they saw the care of the workers - everyone from the woodworkers to the guy pouring concrete that nobody would ever see - they reflected that.'
Along with the fine detail of the temple, workers also labored on the big picture.
'The striking size and prominence of the temple makes it stand out from the city even today,' Jackson said. 'It is awe-inspiring to think that they could build something so impressive back then, when ''horse power'' meant a horse at the end of a cable and a pulley. It must have been so striking to see its outline from the river, and now it is again today.'
Leonard said he hopes members of the church will follow the example that the pioneers set.
'You don''t have to have ancestors from Nauvoo to appreciate the temple,' Leonard said.
'These people were poor. They dedicated their means and their time to build the temple. I believe the same principles of sacrifice and commitment can help further the work of the kingdom today.'