In a few years, St. George will have two Latter-day Saint temples. For now, though, it has none.
The southwestern Utah city’s 1877 edifice, the first temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Beehive State, closed this week to undergo a three-year renovation.
The new Washington County Temple — announced a year ago by President Russell M. Nelson — will go up on a 14-acre site “northeast of 3000 East 1580 South,” according to a news release Wednesday.
Exterior and interior renderings are not yet available, but plans call for a three-story, 88,000-square-foot temple.
With temples also planned in Saratoga Springs, Orem, Taylorsville, Tooele Valley and Layton, Utah will be home to 23 temples.
Latter-day Saints consider temples to be Houses of the Lord, places where faithful members take part in their most sacred ceremonies, including eternal marriages.