Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple Wiki

In his opening remarks of General Conference, held October 1, 2005, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced plans for the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple, the fourth in the Salt Lake Valley. He also noted that a site had been acquired for a fifth Salt-Lake-area temple in the southwest part of the valley, which has been set aside for a future announcement.^[1]The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, “New Salt Lake Valley Temple Announced,” 1 Oct. 2005.; Hinckley, Gordon B. (November 2005), https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/new-salt-lake-valley-temple-announced. “Opening Remarks”. Ensign. Retrieved October 15, 2012, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2005/11/opening-remarks?lang=eng.

Utah Temples at Time of Announcement

Announced

• Draper Utah

Under Construction

• –

Dedicated

• St. George Utah [1877]
• Logan Utah [1884]
• Manti Utah [1888]
• Salt Lake Utah [1893]
• Ogden Utah [1972]
• Provo Utah [1972]
• Jordan River Utah [1981]
• Bountiful Utah [2005]
• Mount Timpanogos Utah [1996]
• Vernal Utah [1997]
• Monticello Utah [1999]

Ground was broken for the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple on Saturday morning, December 16, 2006, by President Hinckley in a service attended by hundreds of members. The service was by invitation only.

He was joined by his counselors in the First Presidency: President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust, along with several other general authorities, including President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles conducted the service.

Until the groundbreaking ceremony, the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple had been unofficially named the South Jordan Utah Temple. However, to avoid confusion with the Jordan River Utah Temple, the official name was chosen to reflect the Oquirrh Mountain range.^[3]The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, “Groundbreaking Held for Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple,” 16 Dec. 2006.^[4]Swensen, Jason. “Utah’s 13th Temple: ‘A Great and Wonderful Day.’” Church News, 11 Jan. 2024, www.thechurchnews.com/2006/12/23/23233840/utahs-13th-temple-a-great-and-wonderful-day.

Oquirrh (pronounced “oh-ker”) is a Goshute Indian word meaning “shining mountains,” a fitting allusion to a temple, which is also known as the “Mountain of the Lord.” The building is faced with light beige granite quarried and milled in China.

During the groundbreaking ceremony for the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced plans to construct the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple.

In conjunction with the groundbreaking for the temple, a render of what the temple would look like was released as well.^[5]Swensen, Jason. “Utah’s 13th Temple: ‘A Great and Wonderful Day.’” Church News, 11 Jan. 2024, www.thechurchnews.com/2006/12/23/23233840/utahs-13th-temple-a-great-and-wonderful-day.

During the construction period of the temple, rapid development in China saw a quadrupling of the price of copper world wide.^[6]Winton. “Copper-bottomed Booms and Busts.” Winton, www.winton.com/news/copper-bottomed-booms-and-busts.. Coper prices caused theft of copper from both new and existing construction to become commonplace. One brazen theft saw the copper stolen from the freeway lighting on a section of I-15 shortly after the temple was dedicated.^[7]Boal, Jed. “Copper Thieves Strip Wire From Freeway Lights.” KSL.com, 16 July 2010, www.ksl.com/article/11584115/copper-thieves-strip-wire-from-freeway-lights.

Likely in response to these increased costs, the Church quietly released a new render for the temple that began to be used in articles about the then under construction temple sometime between 2007 and 2009. The new render features a spire covered in the same beige granit as the rest of the temple, rather than the copper spire shown in the original render.

The public was invited to tour the new temple during an open house from June 1, 2009, to August 1, 2009.^[8]”Open House and Dedication Dates Announced for Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple”. Newsroom. LDS Church. January 31, 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2019, https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/open-house-and-dedication-dates-announced-for-oquirrh-mountain-utah-temple. almost 600,000 people visited the building during this time period, an average of over 11 thousand people per day.

President Thomas S. Monson dedicated the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple on his 82nd birthday. The crowd gathered for the cornerstone ceremony spontaneously sang him a birthday song.

Nine dedicatory sessions were held across three days from August 21–23, 2009, and were presided over by President Thomas S. Monson. The temple is the 130th operating temple in the world. Eight of the sessions were presided over by Church President Thomas S. Monson, who became 16th President of the Church a year and a half before. President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, read President Monson’s dedicatory prayer in the last session.

For the first time in Utah’s history, church was cancelled statewide on August 23, 2009, to allow members to attend the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple without conflict.

Standing on a beautiful bluff just west of highly traveled Bangerter Highway, the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple sits near the foot of the Oquirrh Mountains, facing east toward a panoramic view of the Wasatch Mountains and two of the valley’s other four temples: the Jordan River Utah Temple, and Draper Utah Temple.

The Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple was built on a bluff on the edge of the Daybreak Community;^[10]Hinckley, Gordon B. (November 2005). “Opening Remarks”. Ensign. Retrieved October 15, 2012.^[11]”New Salt Lake Valley Temple Announced”. Newsroom. LDS Church. October 1, 2005. Retrieved August 18, 2019. The property was donated to the church by Kennecott Land, a portion of a company that mines copper and precious minerals from the Oquirrh Mountains, just a few miles west of the temple.

Grounds

Lined with walkways, the picturesque temple grounds are open to the public for strolls around this magnificent House of the Lord. An adjacent meetinghouse welcomes visitors for worship services on Sundays. The temple grounds are decorated with flower gardens, a large fountain and grass fields.

Cladding

The building is faced with light beige granite quarried and milled in China.

Windows

Spandrel panel

The spire of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple was installed atop the temple on July 11, 2008.,

Immediately following the installation of the spire was the installation of a Fiberglass copy of Karl Quilters larger 1985 statue of the Angel Moroni.

Events

The temple is a 60,000 square-foot edifice. On the interior, the temple features four ordinance rooms, in 2 sets of 2 stage progressive rooms, six sealing rooms, one baptistry and a celestial room.

Materials for the temple included limestone for the walls and floors, from Morocco and Egypt; white oak wood used throughout the temple, from Indiana and Kentucky; and white oak doors and sycamore, from the German Alps.

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The ordinance room murals in the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple were painted by artists who were called as “art missionaries” for the Church.

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