Two temples have been presented awards by community and business organizations.
The Portland Temple was recognized by the Precast Concrete Institute for outstanding use of precast concrete, said Earl M. Monson, director of temples and special projects in the Church's Physical Facilities Department.Brother Monson said the Portland Temple was one of a select few chosen to be recognized by the institute out of several hundred entries. The award was presented Feb. 16 at the Church Office Building. Recipients included Buehner Precast Stone of Salt Lake City, which did the precast concrete work on the temple; the architectural firm of Lee Ruff Stark, formerly known as Lee Ruff Waddle, of Portland, Ore.; and the architectural staff of the Church.
The outside of the Portland Temple is made up of precast concrete panels in which are mixed marble and aggregate.
The San Diego California Temple was selected as Headliner of the Year for 1993 in the landmark category by the San Diego Press Club. During the 20th annual awards banquet Feb. 23, a plaque was presented to Clyde A. Romney, director of the San Diego Multi-region Public Affairs Council. Brother Romney, chairman of the open house committee for the temple, accepted the award "on behalf of the thousands of members of the Mormon Church in this area who worked so hard to share [the temple] with the community during the public tours last year."
Brother Romney was accompanied at the banquet by William S. Lewis Jr., design architect; Dennis Hyndman, project architect; and Shelly Hyndman, interior design architect.
A public open house was held at the San Diego California Temple from Feb. 20-April 3. More than 700,000 attended.