A look at Latter-day Saint temples in Utah — 28 total, and going strong

To date, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has 300 temples — dedicated, operating, under renovation, under construction or announced and in planning and design — in 39 states and in 71 nations outside of the United States.

Geographically, that’s from Alabama to Wyoming in the U.S., and from Argentina to Zimbabwe across the globe. And chronologically, that’s from the St. George Utah Temple — the Church’s longest-operating temple, dedicated in 1877 and under renovations to extend operations even longer — to the 18 new temple locations announced by President Russell M. Nelson in October 2022 general conference.

Since the turn of the 21st century, Latter-day Saints have watched as temples went from the benchmark of 100 operating temples set by the late President Gordon B. Hinckley — and achieved — to the 176 and counting current total of dedicated temples and the aforementioned 300 overall.

They’ve seen temples being dedicated over the past 20 years — from Manhattan, Paris and Rome to Haiti, Guam and Cape Verde. They know of the ongoing construction of more than 50 new temples — from five on the African continent to seven on island nations in the Pacific, and from 14 throughout Latin America to more than 20 new U.S. temples just alone in or west of the Rocky Mountains.

And Church members have heard announcements of new temple locations — nearly 70 still in planning and design — with future houses of the Lord projected for places such as United Arab Emirates, Thailand and Hungary to Kiribati, Madagascar and five in metro Mexico City.

However, this focus instead is on temples close to home for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City since the mid-1800s.

Temples in Utah may seem like old news or non-news, given the 28 temples in various stages of operation, renovation, construction or planning for the 2.16 million Latter-day Saints residing in the state.

But there has been plenty of news with current, ongoing and upcoming temple developments in the Beehive State — from dedications to renovations and constructions. About the only thing missing for Utah temples from the different status stages is Utah has no temples in the planning and design stages, since the 10 Utah temples announced by President Nelson — all coming in the first four years of his five-year tenure — are already under construction.

Saratoga Springs Utah Temple dedication and open house

The next major temple milestone scheduled for a Utah temple is the open house and dedication of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple. As published in late November 2022, the 12-week public open house is scheduled from Saturday, April 15, through Saturday, July 8, excluding Sundays. Online reservations for the public tours became available earlier this month at www.churchofjesuschrist.org/featured/saratoga-springs-utah-open-house.

President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, is scheduled to dedicate the temple on Aug. 13, 2023. It will be the state’s first Latter-day Saint temple to be dedicated in more than five years, since the Cedar City Utah Temple dedication in December 2017.

That’s the longest period of time between Utah temple dedications since the 11-year span between the 1998 dedication of the Monticello Utah Temple and the most recent pair in south Salt Lake Valley — the Draper Utah and Oquirrh Mountain Utah temples, both in 2009.

Also, it is the state’s first temple in more than a decade — since the Brigham City Utah Temple in 2012 — to have its public open house at least in part during the summer months. Not only are most schools out of session, but out-of-state visitors to Utah — traveling or visiting friends and relatives — could attend the Saratoga Springs open house sometime through early July.

The Saratoga Springs temple open house and dedication will serve as the leader in an anticipated long string of open houses, dedications and rededications over the next four to five years, with three dedicated temples under renovation, two more in the wings and 10 new temples under construction.

Utah temples under renovation

Not all of the headlines for temple news have been about new temples announced or under construction. Plenty of attention has been given to the Church’s four longest-operating temples — all located in Utah, including the iconic Salt Lake Temple.

That globally recognized building and the St. George Utah Temple and Manti Utah Temple are undergoing extensive, multiyear renovation projects, as promised when President Nelson announced in April 2019 general conference plans to renovate the Church’s pioneer-era temples.

The St. George temple renovation project was announced in May 2019, with renovation plans unveiled for the temple and entire temple block. The temple closed in early November 2019, with the renovations beginning soon thereafter.

Those renovations are in their fourth year, moving beyond the initially anticipated November 2022 completion date. Dedicated in 1877, the southern Utah temple was renovated in the 1970s and rededicated in November 1975 by President Spencer W. Kimball.

The Salt Lake Temple’s multiyear seismic renovation efforts and the overall Temple Square renovation project recently completed its third year of projects and progress. The temple, which began operating with its April 1893 dedication, closed for renovations in late December 2019.

In April of that year, Church leaders had announced a major, multiyear renovation to include replacing the Utah temple’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. The “significant seismic upgrade” — to help the edifice withstand a large earthquake — includes installation of a base isolation system and structural reinforcement.

On May 1, 2021, President Nelson announced plans to preserve the “pioneer craftsmanship, artwork and character” of the Manti Utah Temple. It closed in October of that same year.

Dedicated in 1888 and rededicated in 1985 after earlier renovations, the 74,792-square-foot Manti temple requires mechanical upgrades and technology that will allow the ordinances and covenants to be administered in multiple languages.

No announcement regarding the expected renovation of the fourth pioneer-era temple, the Logan Utah Temple.

However, another Utah temple has been scheduled not just for renovations but a major redesign and extensive exterior overhaul. After announcing 13 locations for new temples in his concluding remarks at the October 2021 general conference, President Nelson included mention of the “reconstruction of the Provo Utah Temple after the Orem Utah Temple is dedicated.”

In November 2021, the Church released an exterior rendering of the redesigned Provo temple, with the extreme makeover similar to that of its sister sacred edifice, the Ogden Utah Temple, which underwent a major renovation and architectural change unlike any other temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Operating temples in Utah

Utah is home to 14 dedicated and currently operating temples. In chronological order of dedication, they are:

• Logan Utah Temple, dedicated in 1884 and rededicated in 1979.
• Ogden Utah Temple, dedicated in 1972 and rededicated in 2014.
• Provo Utah Temple, dedicated in 1972 and scheduled for reconstruction.
• Jordan River Utah Temple, dedicated in 1981 and rededicated in 2018.
• Bountiful Utah Temple, dedicated in 1995.
• Mount Timpanogos Temple, dedicated in 1996.
• Vernal Utah Temple, dedicated in 1997.
• Monticello Utah Temple, dedicated in 1998 and rededicated in 2002.
• Draper Utah Temple, dedicated in 2009.
• Oquirrh Mountain Temple, dedicated in 2009.
• Brigham City Utah Temple, dedicated in 2012.
• Payson Utah Temple, dedicated in 2015.
• Provo City Center Temple, dedicated in 2016.
• Cedar City Utah Temple, dedicated in 2017.

There are as many Utah temples under construction, under renovation or waiting to be dedicated — 14 — as there are operating temples in the state.

Utah temples under construction

While the Saratoga Springs temple will be Utah’s first dedication in more than five years, over the next five years, there will be at least 10 temple dedications in Utah.

That’s because 10 temples are under construction throughout the state — eight of them within a 100-mile radius of the Saratoga Springs temple. The groundbreaking dates range from May 2020 for the Layton Utah Temple to October 2022 for the Heber Valley Utah Temple, making for plenty of Utah temple open houses and dedications over the next several years.

The 10 Utah temples under construction, in chronological order of their groundbreakings, are:

• Layton Utah Temple, May 23, 2020.
• Orem Utah Temple, Sept. 5, 2020.
• Taylorsville Utah Temple, Oct. 31, 2020.
• Red Cliffs Utah Temple, Nov. 7, 2020.
• Deseret Peak Utah Temple, May 25, 2021.
• Syracuse Utah Temple, June 12, 2021.
• Lindon Utah Temple, April 23, 2022.
• Smithfield Utah Temple, June 18, 2022.
• Ephraim Utah Temple, Aug. 27, 2022.
• Heber Valley Utah Temple, Oct. 8, 2022.

1 of 59

2 of 59

3 of 59

4 of 59

5 of 59

6 of 59

7 of 59

8 of 59

9 of 59

10 of 59

11 of 59

12 of 59

13 of 59

14 of 59

15 of 59

16 of 59

17 of 59

18 of 59

19 of 59

20 of 59

21 of 59

22 of 59

23 of 59

24 of 59

25 of 59

26 of 59

27 of 59

28 of 59

29 of 59

30 of 59

31 of 59

32 of 59

33 of 59

34 of 59

35 of 59

36 of 59

37 of 59

38 of 59

39 of 59

40 of 59

41 of 59

42 of 59

43 of 59

44 of 59

45 of 59

46 of 59

47 of 59

48 of 59

49 of 59

50 of 59

51 of 59

52 of 59

53 of 59

54 of 59

55 of 59

56 of 59

57 of 59

58 of 59

59 of 59