LDS Wells Ward
Year Built
1920/1926
Year Lost
2024
Salt Lake County
1990 S 500 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84105, USA
Architect
Rutherford & Ashton
National Register?
Was a contributing resource within the Wells National Historic District.
History
Constructed in stages during the early 20th century, this historic Liberty Wells building reflected a period when neighborhood congregations raised funds to construct their own ward houses. The original classrooms and amusement hall were completed in 1920, followed by the chapel addition in 1926. Designed in a muted neo-Jacobean style—an uncommon architectural expression in both the United States and England—the building stood as a distinctive example of ecclesiastical design of its era.
Beyond its architectural character, the building functioned as a true community hub. In addition to worship services, it hosted blood drives, Friday movie nights, carnivals, festivals, square dancing, community dinners, road shows, and literacy projects. Its amusement hall and classrooms served as gathering spaces for generations of residents, deeply embedding the structure in the neighborhood's social and cultural life.
How It Was Lost
After sustaining damage in the 2020 Salt Lake City earthquake, the Wells Ward chapel was closed and later condemned. It remained vacant for several years while conversations about its future continued. Community members, preservation advocates, and neighborhood leaders expressed interest in stabilizing and reusing the building, and it was identified as endangered in the hope that renewed attention would lead to a path forward.
As time passed, the boarded structure became increasingly vulnerable. Ongoing exposure, trespassing, and deferred maintenance further weakened its condition, even as many continued to believe the building could still be saved with the right investment and commitment.
Before any final resolution about its future could take shape, the building was lost suddenly. In the early morning hours of May 26, 2024, a multi-alarm fire broke out at the vacant chapel. Fire crews arrived to find the structure engulfed in flames, with portions of the building already collapsed as they worked to contain the blaze. Two individuals were rescued from an upper balcony during the response.
By morning, the building had been destroyed.
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