SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Home of the Joseph Smith sphinx, Gilgal Sculpture Garden is on track to be added to the Salt Lake City Local Register as a landmark site, which would give it certain protections as a historical resource.
On Thursday, Aug. 6, the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission will have its monthly meeting, and on its agenda is a vote on designating Gilgal Sculpture Garden as a local landmark site.
The planning staff recommended the commission vote in favor of making it a local landmark, but the Salt Lake City Council will still have to vote to adopt the petition before it’s official. The petition has the support of Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, so it seems likely to be adopted.
Yes, there really is a sphinx in Utah with the face of the first LDS leader
Properties designated as local landmark sites are given a zoning overlay for historic preservation, which means they’re protected from demolition, and the city will have oversight over any modifications.
The Gilgal Sculpture Garden was created by Thomas Battersby Child, Jr., a former masonry contractor and bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Tenth Ward. The garden is located on what was Child’s backyard of his residential property, between 700 and 800 East and 400 and 500 South.
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It’s made up of 16 sculptures and sculpture groupings, 30 engraved stones, and over 70 engraved floor stones representing various figures from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, alongside other ideas taken from a variety of other religious, philosophical, and literary sources…