This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Amid the red sands and iconic saguaro cactus of southern Arizona's Sonoran Desert, the LDS Church's new Tucson Temple will welcome the public for a three-week open house in June.

Beginning this Saturday through Saturday, June 24, the "art deco" style, 38,000-square-foot structure will host tours of the site — with the exception of Sundays during the period, when it will be closed.

Only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints deemed in good standing will be allowed inside the edifice after the open house ends. Dedication ceremonies on Sunday, Aug. 13, will formally begin the temple's mission as a sacred site for such Mormon rites as eternal marriages and family sealings, and proxy baptisms for the dead.

The Utah-based faith has more than 150 temples around the world; the faith's 156th temple was recently dedicated in Paris.

The Tucson Temple, which rests on a 7-acre plot in Tucson's Catalina Foothills, was designed with the idea of a spiritual desert oasis in mind, says project manager Calvin Caldwell.

The site's grounds include not only a landscape offering variety of cactus species and native grasses, but also the temple itself features art glass and paintings of Christ's ministry amid desert scenes.

Designers also sought to reflect the region's architecture by using a dome of imported blue tile form Germany, topped by the angel Moroni statute. Throughout Tucson, domes and cupolas are common as structural accents.

Ground for the temple, located at 7281 North Skyline Drive, was broken October 17, 2015.

For more information, visit the templeopenhouse.lds.org website.

Twitter: @remims