Once housing the second institute of religion established by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the old Logan Institute of Religion building long-pioneered a space where young adult members of the church in Cache Valley could grow in spiritual knowledge and as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Yet in 2023, the institute’s original building — found on the west side of the Utah State University campus — was demolished to make way for a new structure accommodating the needs and growing number of young adults attending the Logan institute.
Now nearing three years since the original building’s demolition, the Logan Institute of Religion is celebrating a newly completed building with an open house and dedication service this weekend.
At this critical stage of young adults’ lives, institute is a place where they can find identity, connectivity, learning, belonging and becoming, said Logan institute director Andrew L Bryan in an interview with the Deseret News.
“We see institute as a place for them to come and belong, … a place where they can become their divine self, and a place for them to connect with people in no other way — and it’s all centered on Jesus Christ.”
Bryan added that the new institute building accomplishes this purpose through symbols and various design features.
“All of the natural windows are a symbol of all of the light and the life,” he said. “The big open hallways and the ability to connect with people is intentional so they can make social connections and never feel alone. And this space is a way for them to feel like ‘I can be safe and inspired at any time.’”
A pioneer institute trail-blazes a new way of teaching
Designed to meet the needs of approximately 10,000 young adults annually, the new Logan institute building is a two-story structure of just over 100,000 square feet.
It was completed Oct. 31 and will host more than 180 classes across 50 subjects — a stark contrast to the two classes and 98 students the institute was founded with in 1928.
These classes, ranging from “Dating and Healthy Relationships” to “Sacred Truths and Difficult Questions,” will be taught by the institute’s 26 faculty members, and will meet in the new building’s 22 classrooms.
Each classroom has been designed to be a “multi-functional space where there’s no true front of the classroom,” Bryan explained in a tour of the building. He said this will enable students to collaborate and be engaged in different ways.
“Our pedagogy, right now, with teaching is less about preparing a lesson for our students and more about preparing an experience with our students. And so these classrooms are built to have an experience with Jesus Christ when they come. So lots of natural light, lots of functional seating, and certainly just a fun environment.”
Students are excited to see the building’s classrooms and spaces come to life, especially since they have been meeting in classrooms scattered across campus and nearby church meetinghouses since the original structure was removed in 2023.
“It’s been unique, that’s for sure,” said Bryson Newswander, a vice president of the institute’s student council. “Without a building, we’ve had to adapt, … (and) we’ve been just absolutely amazed with the involvement that’s still taking place, even without a building. Now, we’re just that much more excited to have a building.”
Built to come and stay
Every square foot of the new building, from its curved side wall to its lantern-like north and south entrances, have been designed to create a “come-and-stay environment,” Bryan said.
He explained that students’ responses to church surveys put out in the planning of the new building emphasized a great desire to “see others” and “be seen by others.”
Students “wanted more light, they wanted more life, they wanted a more inviting feel,” he said. So the building’s architects and interior designers met this request with an abundance of windows, glass walls and doors, muted blues and greens in design elements for a calming effect, and open spaces.
“People can be walking in (and) I can be here, I can be there, and I can see students everywhere. And they can see me — there’s a sense of belonging that we just love with that,” Bryan said.
Other features incorporated to increase connection and collaboration between students include a variety of lounge and study spaces (including eight study rooms), a cafeteria and commons area, an outdoor courtyard, and a multi-functional chapel connected to an indoor gymnasium.
With no permanent pews and a retractable wall, the chapel and adjoined gymnasium can host two sacrament meetings side by side, or can also have a portable podium placed in the center for large devotional events, with a capacity of about 1,400 people.
This space “is going to house an entire (young single adult) stake,” Bryan said, adding that the space will also be useful to host young adult dances and other faith-centered, social activities.
Of the new building’s layout and design, Aly Woodbury — president of the institute’s student council — said these elements will make the user experience “far better.”
The old institute building was “often referred to by the students as a maze,” she said. This building is “a lot easier to navigate.”
As for Danel Bachman, a retired institute teacher who taught at the Logan institute for more than two decades, he noted the long-term effects the new building’s features will have.
“The fact that this is so big and so open,” he said, pointing to the building’s commons area and cafeteria, “that’s going to draw kids in, and they’re going to come and just sit and mingle, and eventually they’ll get involved in the institute program. Many of them don’t start that way and have come, so it’s going to be a great boon.”
Halls that walk one towards Jesus Christ
Adorning the walls and halls of the new institute building are series of paintings from various artists, each complementing the building’s calming colors and design.
“We’ve got a lot of unique art in this building that you don’t see in a lot of other institute buildings,” Bryan said.
And each has been thoughtfully placed to draw students and visitors’ focus to Jesus Christ.
“At the end of every hallway,” Newswander said, “you’ll see a picture of Jesus Christ, and it’s intentional that way.”
The paintings’ placement says “that wherever you’re in the building, whatever hallway you’re walking down, Jesus Christ is right there, and you’re walking towards him. And I love that little lesson, that principle, that’s taught through the building.”
Images depicting Christ from the church’s Bible videos are also displayed in many of the classrooms’ walls, Bryan added.
More than a building
The students that will use the new building are “the heart of the institute,” Woodbury said.
And the investment of time and effort it took to construct the building speaks to how much the church values young adults and members worldwide, she added.
“We’re in this time of life where things are crazy,” she said. “We’re making lots of big decisions … and the church is here and cares about us now.”
The church is not waiting until “we’re all in our careers” or are “recognized by the world,” she continued. “They care about us right now, and they care about what we’re doing, what we’re seeing, what we’re learning and what we’re becoming.
“And this institute is a true testament of who we are becoming.”
Similarly, Bryan said: “We built it for them.”
The church’s leaders “know that the future leaders of the church, the future peacemakers of the world, and the future mothers and fathers and influencers for good are right here, right now,” he said.
“We’re hoping that this building is a big invitation, a big billboard that says: ‘Come.’
“Come here and enjoy. Come here and get a piece of pizza from the cafe. Come here and study with friends. Come here and play basketball in the gym. … This is not a country club for the righteous. This is a sanctuary for all who want to make friends feel safe and have joy.”
Open house, dedication details
Tours of the new institute building — located at 600 Darwin Avenue, Logan, Utah — began Friday for students and young adults, and will continue with a community open house welcoming guests of all faiths and ages from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The building will then be dedicated Sunday, Nov. 23, at 6 p.m., with a ticketed, by-invitation dedication service.
A young adult dance celebrating the new building was also held Friday night, starting at 7:30 p.m., in the building’s gymnasium.
