- 1987-04-30 — The Universal House of Justice indicated that the way was open to erect the remaining buildings on the arc at the Bahá'í World Centre. [AWH51]
- 1987-08-31 — The Universal House of Justice called for the erection of the remaining three buildings along the arc at the Bahá'í World Centre—the Centre for the Study of the Sacred Texts, the Seat of the International Teaching Centre and the International Bahá'í Library—as well as an expansion of the International Archives building and the creation of 19 monumental terraces from the foot of Mount Carmel to its crest. [AWH50–4, 90; BBD21; VV96; Message 31 August 1987]
- 1989-10-11 — The Bahá'í World Centre received official approval by the Local Town Planning Committee and City Council of Haifa of the Town Planning Scheme for the initiation of the Projects on Mt Carmel.
- 1990-03-00 — The Haifa District Town Planning Commission approved the plan submitted by the World Centre for the building projects on Mount Carmel. [AWH76]
- 1990-05-23 —
The work started on the project to reinforce and extend the main terrace of the Shrine of the Báb. This was the initial step in the work to have the Terraces extend from the foot of the ridge of the mountain. [Ridván Message 1992, AWH83, 102]
- The architect for the Terraces project was Fariburz Sahba.
- 1991-09-00 — The ground was broken for the construction of the Centre for the Study of the Sacred Texts and for the Extension to the International Archives Building. [Ridván Message 1992]
- 1995-05-14 — The Universal House of justice representative Mr 'Alí Nakhjavání began his tour of major Bahá'í communities to discuss the significance of the Arc projects on Mount Carmel.
- 1996-04-21 — The terraces below the Shrine of the Báb were completed and opened to pilgrims.
- 2001-01-08 —
- 2001-05-00 — The inauguration of the Centre for the Study of the Texts. The facility was completed and occupied in 1999. It consists of study rooms for resident and visiting scholars, meeting and conference rooms, a large reference library, a secretariat and ancillary spaces totalling 7750 sq. metres (83,420 sq. ft) Much of the building is located below ground. It has been integrated into the mountain with a portico that reflects the classical motifs of the other buildings on the Arc. The offices of the building are provided with natural light directly or through light wells, patios and skylights. Below ground it is connected to an extension to the Archives which provides secure, climate-controlled storage vaults for the original, hand written papers that constitute the Bahá'í Sacred Texts. The architect was Hossein Amanat. [amanatarchitect.com]
"The Centre for the Study of the Texts . . . will be the seat of an institution of Bahá'í scholars, the efflorescence of the present Research Department of the World Centre, which will assist the Universal House of Justice in consulting the Sacred Writings, and will prepare translations of and commentaries on the authoritative texts of the Faith." [AWH p52]
"The building was completed and occupied in 1999. It now houses the Research Department, and is the temporary home of the International Bahá'í Library and other offices." [Visiting Bahá'í Holy Places p. 35; BW99-00p38-39]
- 2001-05-21 — The celebration of the completion of the Arc projects began with a devotional visit by the 3,000 Bahá'ís assembled to the resting place of Bahá'u'lláh, at Bahji. [BWNS117]
- 2001-05-23 —
At dusk on the evening of the 22nd of May, the opening of the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb, a $250M project that begun ten years earlier and transformed the ancient barren face of the mountain into 19 majestic terraced gardens cascading down the length of the mountain. [BWNS121; BW01-02p37-73]
- See the message To the Believers Gathered for the Events Marking the Completion of the Projects on Mount Carmel.
- The nineteen Canadian believers who had the extraordinary blessing of being present in the Holy Land for the official opening of the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb were: Dr. Akouete Akakpo-Vida, Mr. Riel Aubichon, Mr. Garrett Brisdon, Mrs. Pearl Downie, Mrs. Nellie Ironeagle, Mrs. Aghdas Javid, Mr. Joseph Kowtow, Mrs. Joo Jong Kung, M. Fréderic Landry, Ms. Giselle Melanson, Mr. Borna Noureddin, Mr. James Patrick, Mrs. Valerie Pemberton-Piggott, Mlle. Cindy Poitras, Mrs. Janice Schlosser, Mlle. Caroline Simon, Mrs. Doris Toeg, Mrs. Linda Wilkinson, and Mme. Elizabeth Wright. In addition, several students from the Maxwell International Bahá'í School were present as members of the delegations from their home countries.
- The event was attended by some 4,500 people, 3,300 of them Bahá'ís, as representative of more than 200 countries and territories. [One Country Vol.13 Issue 1]
- For the statement read by Dr. Albert Lincoln, Secretary-General of the Bahá'í International Community at the official opening of the flight of terraces see Ruhi 8.3 page 93. [BWNS119]
- See video From Darkness to Light Recalling the Events at the Official Opening of the Terraces on Mount Carmel May 2001.
- See The Opening of the Terraces (May 2001):
Reflections of a Participant by Thelma Batchelor.
- Gyr Kvalheim was the Managing Director of the Inaugural Events Office. [BWNS118]
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