FamilySearch has announced the reopening of its newly renovated Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center. Located at 750 West Elva Street, the free service will introduce guests to a world of fun, interactive, personal and family discoveries. From life-sized interactive experiences, home video conversion equipment, a recording room, access to personal help and billions of online records, the new attraction will be a popular addition to the local scene. A public open house begins Thursday, June 23, at 10 a.m. and runs through Saturday, June 25. The center will officially reopen to the public on Monday, June 27, 2022. Groups are welcome.
The Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center is located in a former LDS chapel that has been fully renovated and repurposed. Discovering your family tree and recording family memories for future generations is one of those purposes. It features 81 web-enabled patron computers, 2 classrooms, a small children’s area, and a host of specialized equipment for personal use.
Want to convert that shelf or box of home videos of family memories to a digital format so you can easily share them or preserve them online? The Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center has 4 workstations equipped to help you transfer your VHS, 8mm and Super 8 film, CD, Mini DVD, audio, and other media types to more current digital file formats. There’s also equipment for photo and film editing.
Four additional workstations include photo and slide scanners to convert media to digital formats. There’s even a small studio to interview your relatives to capture them sharing favorite memories and stories on camera. Visitors will get a kick out of the green screen that creatively projects you into the homelands of your ancestors and provides you with a fun, digital souvenir you can share with family and friends.
Interactive Discovery Experiences include:
- All About Me
- Where I Come From
- My Famous Relatives
- Picture My Heritage
- Compare a Face (Who’s My Doppelganger?)
The center also offers free weekly classes targeted to the needs of patrons (see Class Calendar).
If you are a local history buff of sorts, you’ll enjoy large murals of Idaho Falls and historical photos as part of the ambience. The impressive mural of the Ten Virgins in the main study room was completed by artist Robert L. Shepherd in the 1940s, and was installed in the FamilySearch Center in 1993. The ceiling had to be raised at the time to accommodate the mural. Shepherd is also known for painting the mural of the Garden Room in the Idaho Falls LDS temple at the time.
When you arrive, you will find the center staffed by friendly, and perhaps even familiar, local volunteers who are ready to help visitors upon arrival.
Thaddeus and Janice Zabriskie are volunteer directors of the center. They are eager to see people, groups, and family in the community take advantage of the renovated facility. “The Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center is open to our community to help you find and connect with your family and ensure that favorite family memories are preserved and enjoyed for future generations. Visit us to experience the joy of getting to know your ancestors and family history. We can help you find them and their stories. It will touch your heart. In doing so, you might even learn new things about yourself,” the Zabriskies said.
Location:
Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center
750 West Elva Street, Idaho Falls, Idaho
Phone: (208) 524-5291
Hours of Operations:
Monday, Friday–Sat: 9 am–5 pm
Tuesday–Thursday: 9 am–8 pm