Provo Utah Temple, Religious building in Provo, United States.
The Provo Utah Temple is a four-story temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints north of Brigham Young University, built with precast concrete, gold anodized aluminum grills and bronze glass panels. Its rounded exterior carries Gothic-like arch designs and a single spire, and the 17-acre site holds gardens, fountains and walkways. Inside are six instruction rooms and twelve sealing rooms around a circular hallway.
Plans for the temple were announced on August 14, 1967, by First Presidency counselors Hugh B. Brown and N. Eldon Tanner, and a groundbreaking was held on September 15, 1969, with the site dedicated the same day by Joseph Fielding Smith. Dedicated on February 9, 1972, it was the church's seventeenth constructed and fifteenth operating temple, the sixth in Utah and the first in Utah County. It closed in February 2024 for reconstruction and was renamed the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple.
The temple's name changed to Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple in February 2024, reflecting its site at the base of Rock Canyon. Its baptismal font rests on the backs of twelve oxen, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel. The central spire was originally painted gold to represent the pillar of fire by night.
The temple stands on a 17-acre site at the base of Rock Canyon, just north of the Brigham Young University campus. The grounds are landscaped with gardens, fountains and walkways. The building closed in February 2024 for reconstruction, so check the current status before travelling to see it.
The temple's spire was originally painted gold to suggest the pillar of fire by night, while the white building stood for the pillar of cloud by day, imagery drawn from Exodus 13:21-22. A gold-leafed angel Moroni was planned but left off; a statue was added only in 2003, and the spire then turned white. The 2024 reconstruction design omits the statue again.
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