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Visitors will get their first glimpse inside the tabernacle-turned-temple in downtown Provo in January, the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Tuesday.

A 2010 fire gutted the historic tabernacle's interior, but the building has been reconstructed, using the structure's restored exterior walls to convert it into Utah's 16th Mormon temple.

LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson announced the reconstruction and transformation plan in October 2011.

A free public open house of the Provo City Center Temple starts Jan. 15 and will run every day, except Sundays, through March 5, according to a news release. These free tours have been eagerly anticipated by area Latter-day Saints and history buffs, given the building's longtime presence in Provo.

The temple will be dedicated in three Sunday sessions March 20, the release said, with a cultural celebration taking place the day before.

Dedicatory sessions will be at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m., the LDS Church reported, "and will be broadcast to Utah meetinghouses. The three-hour block of meetings will be canceled for that Sunday."

When the Provo project is completed, that Utah County city will join South Jordan as the only cities in the world with two Mormon temples.

The Provo City Center Temple also will be Utah County's fourth LDS temple. Church leaders dedicated the Payson Temple on Sunday.

Mormons see temples as houses of God, where they take part in their religion's highest ordinances, including eternal marriage.

Peggy Fletcher Stack