The interior of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ temple near Tooele will highlight the area’s history and native flowers, based on artists’ renderings released Tuesday.
(Image courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) An artist's rendering of the lobby of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' to-be-constructed Tooele Valley Utah Temple.
The temple will be built northwest of the intersection of Erda Way and Highway 36 in Erda, in Tooele County. Church President Russell M. Nelson announced plans for the temple in April 2019. No date for groundbreaking has been set.
“These beautiful renderings depict the care and attention to detail that will go into the construction of this house of the Lord,” Brent Roberts, managing director of the church’s Special Projects Department, said in a news release. “The temple is our holiest place of worship. We believe this will be a place where Latter-day Saints in the Tooele Valley and beyond can go to obtain peace and divine direction in their lives.”
The temple’s design features a cast stone exterior with copper shingles, done in a pioneer style, according to Bill Williams, director of temple design for the church. Design details from nearby historic tabernacles will be incorporated into the interior look. Flowers native to the Tooele Valley, including cliff rose and silvery lupine, will be featured in several rooms of the temple, as well as on art glass and the exterior.
Temples are the most sacred places of worship for Latter-day Saints and are considered to be "Houses of the Lord.” Sacred ceremonies, such as marriages and proxy baptisms for deceased ancestors, are held there. Nonmembers are not allowed to enter a temple once it has been dedicated.
All Latter-day Saint temples across the globe are closed right now due to the coronavirus pandemic.
When Utah’s established temples reopen and seven more planned or under construction come on line, the Beehive State will have 24 such edifices.
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