Provo City Center Temple

Not to be confused with the Provo Tabernacle or the Provo Utah Temple.

Provo City Center Temple

Under Construction

Number

TBD

Announcement

1 October 2011

Groundbreaking

12 May 2012 by
Jeffrey R. Holland

Floor area

85,084 sq ft (7,905 m²)

Height

150 ft (46 m)

Official website• News & images

Additional information
Location	50 S. University Ave., Provo, Utah
Sealing rooms	5
Notes	Announced by Thomas S. Monson on October 1, 2011^[1]^[2]^[3] LDS spokesperson reported that it will be called the Provo City Center Temple.^[4]

Coordinates: 40°13′56.9424″N 111°39′32.2992″W / 40.232484000°N 111.658972000°W / 40.232484000; -111.658972000

The Provo City Center Temple^[4] is a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) under construction on the same site as the former Provo Tabernacle in Provo, Utah. The temple utilizes much of the external shell of the tabernacle, which was damaged in a fire in 2010.

Announcement

The announcement was made by church president Thomas S. Monson on October 1, 2011, during the church's semi-annual general conference.^[1]^[2] The temple was announced concurrently with those to be built in Barranquilla, Colombia; Durban, South Africa; Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Star Valley, Wyoming, along with the temple in Paris, France which had been previously announced.^[1] At the time, this brought the total number of temples worldwide (either completed, under construction or announced) to 166 and the number of temples in Utah to sixteen. This will be the second city in the LDS Church to have two temples, the first being South Jordan, Utah with the Jordan River and Oquirrh Mountain temples. This will be the second tabernacle in Utah to be converted to a temple, the first being the Vernal Utah Temple. It is one of only three named LDS temples that vary from naming guidelines the church began using in 1999,^[5] the other 2 being the Salt Lake Temple and Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple.

Site and development

Further information: Provo Tabernacle

Fire on 17 Dec 2010

The temple will be located on the property where the Provo Tabernacle once stood. Historically, the tabernacle was used for church meetings and cultural events. On December 17, 2010, at 2:43 AM MST, a fire was reported at the tabernacle where firefighters found smoke coming from the building. At first firefighters thought that there might be a chance to save the roof and thus the outward structural integrity of the building, but at around 6:00 AM MST the roof collapsed.^[6] The Provo City Fire Department concluded that "The most probable proximate cause of the fire ... is a heat source, specifically an energized 300-watt lamp, which was placed too close to combustible materials, specifically a wooden speaker enclosure."^[7]

Monson stated that the temple will "include a complete restoration of the original exterior," and the artist's rendition in the press release includes the central tower from the original building.^[3]^[8]

Jeffrey R. Holland presided at the groundbreaking on May 12, 2012.^[9]^[10]

During construction, the remaining tabernacle structure was fortified with six to 10 inches of reinforced concrete, combined with three rows of brick. It was supported on a structure of steel and concrete piles set at the planned altitude for the final building. Space for two below-grade stories was excavated before beginning work on the above-ground portions of the temple.^[11] The excavation went down 40 feet. With the water level between 15 and 20 feet, a large amount of water was removed in the process.^[12] Consistent with construction of most LDS temples, on March 31, 2014, a statue of the angel Moroni was installed on top of the temple.^[13]