Provo Utah Temple

The Provo Utah Temple (formerly the Provo Temple) is the 17th constructed and 15th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in the city of Provo, Utah it was built with a modern single-spire design very similar in design to the Ogden Utah Temple.

Since Provo’s early years, a hill just northeast of downtown Provo was known as “Temple Hill.” Instead of a temple, however, the Maeser Building was built on the hill in 1911 as a part of the Brigham Young University campus. A seventeen acre block of property at the base of Rock Canyon was chosen as the site for the Provo Temple.

The LDS temple in Provo was announced on August 14, 1967, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 15, 1969 with construction beginning soon thereafter. Emil B. Fetzer, the architect for the Ogden and Provo temples, was asked to create a functional design with efficiency, convenience, and reasonable cost as key factors.

The temple was dedicated on February 9, 1972 by Church President Harold B. Lee. The two dedicatory services were broadcast to several large auditoriums on Brigham Young University campus, including the 22,700-seat Marriott Center. The temple has 6 ordinance rooms and 12 sealing rooms, and has a total floor area of convert|128325|sqft|m2. Thirty-one years after the temple's completion, an angel Moroni was added to the spire which itself was changed from gold to white. The temple interior included escalators for many years, but those have since been removed.

The Provo Temple is one of the busiest temples the LDS Church operates. Because of its location, the temple is frequented by students attending the nearby Church-owned Brigham Young University. The temple also receives many missionary patrons since an LDS Missionary Training Center is just across the street.

The exterior design of the Provo Temple has its roots in scriptural imagery. The broad base and narrow spire represent the cloudy pillar and the fiery pillar (respectively) that the Lord used to guide the Israelites through the wilderness under Moses ( [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?search=cloud+pillar&do=Search Ex. 13:21-22] ). When the steeple, formerly reddish-gold, was repainted white, the imagery of fire was in part preserved by illuminating the steeple at night with orange-casted lights.

Gallery

ee also

* Temple (Latter Day Saints)
* List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
* List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by geographic region
* Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
* Temple architecture (Latter-day Saints)

References

* [http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/provo/ Provo Utah Temple page]
* [http://www.lds.org/temples/main/0,11204,1912-1-51-1,00.html Official Provo Temple page]