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Posted: 9:45 AM- Sometime soon, new LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson likely will move into the church-owned "presidential apartment."
Though church spokesman Scott Trotter declined to say when or whether Monson will move, his three predecessors all lived on the top floor of Gateway Apartments on State Street in Salt Lake City, across from the LDS Administration Building and within a block of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the LDS temple.
Monson and his wife, Frances, currently live in a modest home in Holladay, which the couple built about 40 years ago.
But they're unlikely to stay in the house because church security officers would be better able to ensure Monson's safety at the apartment, which also offers easy access to his office through a complex maze of underground tunnels.
The man Mormons believe to be their "prophet, seer and revelator" need never be seen on the street.
The safety of LDS Church presidents remains a concern.
In February 1993, Cody Judy, a 27-year-old California man, threatened to detonate a bomb he claimed was in his briefcase while LDS apostle (later president) Howard W. Hunter was speaking at Brigham Young University. Judy was tackled by students and security and was taken into custody without further incident.
Though the bomb turned out to be a fake, it spelled the end of the era when an LDS president could casually reside in a city neighborhood.
LDS presidents from the time of Brigham Young to Heber J. Grant lived variously in the Beehive House and nearby homes. Grant, who led the church from 1918 to 1945, refused to leave his house on Eighth Avenue and A Street. He reportedly would hear tour guides point to his house and declare it the "former residence of the president," while he sat on his front porch within view.
George Albert Smith, who followed Grant, remained at his home on the corner of Yale Avenue and 1300 East until his death in 1951.
David O. McKay divided his time as president between his South Temple residence and his summer home in Huntsville until ill health compelled a move into the Hotel Utah.
Joseph Fielding Smith lived in the old Eagle Gate apartments (on the same site as the Gateway mall), and Harold B. Lee remained in his Federal Heights home during his brief 18-month presidency.
Spencer W. Kimball lived on Laird Street in Harvard/Yale neighborhood. His Mormon neighbors enjoyed the proximity to their spiritual leader.
"He seemed like any of our good neighbors," said Mavis Oswald, whose husband was Kimball's bishop. "He talked to children and winked at them while sitting on the stand [behind the pulpit]. He and his wife took walks in the neighborhood, visited with people and patted the dogs."
Eventually, Kimball, too, had to be moved to Hotel Utah because of security concerns and declining health. He died there in November 1985.
-- PEGGY FLETCHER STACK can be reached at pstack@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">pstack@sltrib.com or 801-257-8725.