The First Presidency has announced open house and dedication dates for the Gilbert Arizona Temple. The public is invited to visit the temple during an open house from Saturday, Jan. 18, through Feb. 15, 2014, excluding Sundays. Free reservations for the open house can be made through the www.gilbertmormontemple.org website in the coming weeks.
The temple will be formally dedicated on Sunday, March 2, 2014, in three sessions. In conjunction with the dedication of the temple, there will also be a cultural celebration featuring music and dance on Saturday, March 1, 2014.
Ground was broken for the Gilbert Arizona Temple on Nov. 13, 2010. Soon after, a viewing and display area was created at the construction site for visitors to learn more about the temple and its purpose. More than 60,000 people took advantage of this opportunity.
Plans to build the Gilbert Arizona Temple were announced by President Thomas S. Monson announced in April 2008. Ground was broken for the beginning of construction on Nov. 13, 2010, with more than 5,700 people attending at the site located on the southeast corner of Pecos and Greenfield roads in Gilbert, which is southeast of Phoenix in the Salt River Valley, and about 14 miles from the Mesa Arizona Temple.
Once dedicated, the Gilbert Arizona Temple will be the 142nd operating temple of the Church worldwide. It is one of four temples in Arizona with others in Mesa, Snowflake and in The Gila Valley. A fifth temple in Phoenix is under construction and a sixth, in Tucson, has been announced.
At 85,000-square-feet, the Gilbert Arizona Temple is the largest temple the Church has constructed in 17 years. The five-level temple is 82 and a half feet high with a spire reaching 195 feet, making it the tallest building in Gilbert and one of the tallest in the entire East Valley. The highly detailed ivory exterior features high quality precast concrete and stone accentuated with fine rustications and beautifully crafted art glass windows.
