The Provo City Center Temple was originally constructed as the Provo Tabernacle from 1883 to 1886 under the direction of A.O. Smoot who at the time was President of the Utah Stake.
The construction debt of $12,000 needed to be paid-off and another $20,000 raised before the Tabernacle could be finished & dedicated. A.O. invited stake members to contribute $.25 - $.50 and to sell loaves of bread and donate the amount received.
In 1889 he gave $1,000 for the first organ. At A.O. Smoot’s death in 1895, the Tabernacle was the site of his funeral. Finally, in 1898, the debt was cleared and the Tabernacle was dedicated.
After a fire in 2010 the Tabernacle was rebuilt and in 2016 it reopened as the Provo City Center Temple.
Information from: Abraham Owen Smoot: His Life and Service in Provo (1865-1895) by D. Robert Carter, Loretta D. Nixon & L. Douglas Smoot
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