The Honolulu Stake Tabernacle is closed for renovation for the next nine to 12 months, according to Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, area authority.

"Church members looking for a place to attend Church during visits to Hawaii over the past 56 years have usually been attracted to the stately white tabernacle," Elder Hallstrom said. "Located at the intersection of Kalakaua Avenue and Beretania Street in Honolulu, the tabernacle has been the virtual center of tourist attention in this part of the island of Oahu."During the extensive interior remodeling, wards that were meeting in the tabernacle have moved to other meetinghouses. Visitors plannings trips to Hawaii during the coming year and who wish to attend LDS Church meetings should look for one of several alternative meetinghouses in the area. They are listed in the telephone directory under "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

The tabernacle originally housed the Oahu stake, which was organized in 1935, the first stake to be organized off of the United States mainland. Architect for the tabernacle was Harold W. Burton, who also designed the Hawaii Temple in Laie. For many years the illuminated tower of the tabernacle, rising 141 feet, served as a beacon even for ships at sea. It was exceeded in height only by the Aloha Tower. Today, the skyline is dominated by numerous high-rise apartments, hotels and office buildings.

Perhaps the tabernacle's most identifiable feature is the large tile mosaic representing Christ which adorns the front of the chapel. It was done by Eugene Savage, who was head of the art department at Columbia University. The mosaic is made up of at least 100,000 tiny ceramic tiles.

The tabernacle was dedicated Sunday, Aug. 17, 1941, less than four months before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. In his dedicatory prayer, President David O. McKay, then-second counselor in the First Presidency, blessed the edifice that no missile would strike it in any war.

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