Neighbors of the Missionary Training Center in Provo appear to be more comfortable with theexpansion plans released this week than they were with some earlier versions.
Some residents of the Pleasant View neighborhood north of BYU had criticized the original plan, which included nine-story buildings where missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would get their initial training. Those have been scaled back to six stories in the new plan. Bill Peperone, the assistant director of Provo’s Community Development Department, says there are other changes to ease the impact on nearby homes as well.
Peperone tells KUER, “The big change that this plan has included that the neighborhood sees as a big benefit is to put over 300 parking spaces underground, under the expanded area. So, obviously, that frees up land at surface level that will now be turned into landscaping.”
The expanded MTC will accommodate 45-hundred missionaries instead of six thousand, as the original plan called for. Construction is expected to begin next year.
