Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center, Alumni center at Brigham Young University campus in Provo, United States.
The Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center is a three-story building with a lower level on the Brigham Young University campus in Provo, Utah, covering 83,000 square feet (7,432 sq. m). Its exterior uses 130 tons of sandstone from a Heber quarry and 310 tons of brick, with 153 windows and 800 tons of steel. A clocktower rises 122 feet, and the building holds alumni association offices, a small theater and exhibits on BYU's history.
In 2005 BYU announced plans for an alumni center named for Gordon B. Hinckley, the LDS Church's fifteenth president. The old Alumni House was demolished in 2006, 44 years and a day after its dedication. Ground was broken on June 23, 2006, Hinckley's 96th birthday, and the building was dedicated exactly one year later, on June 23, 2007. The $35 million project was funded by donations from over 70,000 people, including 8,000 students and 49,000 alumni.
The center's name honors Gordon B. Hinckley, the fifteenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose 96th birthday was chosen for the groundbreaking. A time capsule at the dedication received his hammer and cuff links, and the worn garden shovel he used that day was later donated to the center.
The center sits on the BYU campus in Provo, where BYU University Relations and BYU High School Relations staff give complimentary tours to campus visitors. Exhibits on BYU's history and a small theater are inside the three-story building, which also has a lower level. The 122-foot clocktower makes it easy to spot when approaching campus.
At the June 23, 2006 groundbreaking, held on Gordon B. Hinckley's 96th birthday, Hinckley used a worn shovel from his own garden tools instead of the ceremonial blue and white shovels given to other participants; the shovel was later donated to the center. His hammer and cuff links went into a time capsule at the 2007 dedication.
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