The Gila Valley Arizona Temple Wiki

The announcement of the temple on 26 April 2008 came concurrently with the Gilbert Arizona Temple, and together were the first new temples announced since Thomas S. Monson assumed responsibilities as the president of the LDS Church.^[6]Branom, Mike (April 27, 2008). “New Mormon temple slated for Gilbert”. East Valley Tribune. Archived from the original on April 29, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2008.^[7]“President Monson Announces Two New Temples in Arizona,” Mormon Newsroom, 28 APRIL 2008^[8]“Two new temples: Gilbert, Gila Valley,” Church News, 26 April 2008

Arizona Temples at Time of Announcement

Announced

• Gilbert Arizona

Under Construction

• –

Dedicated

• Snowflake Arizona [2002]
• Mesa Arizona [1927]

A groundbreaking and site dedication ceremony took place on February 14, 2009, officially beginning the construction process. Elder Neil L. Andersen then of the Presidency of the Seventy presided at the groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication of the temple. The date was significant because it marked exactly 97 years since Arizona had achieved statehood.[ref name=”adair”]Adair, Jill (February 16, 2009). “Ground broken for Gila Valley temple”. Church News. Retrieved October 15, 2012[/ref]^[11]“Open House and Dedication Dates Announced for Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple,” MormonNewsroom.org, 13 January 2009.

The ground was broken at the location where the celestial room would stand.

The public was invited to visit the temple beginning on Friday, 23 April 2010, through Saturday, 15 May 2010, excluding Sundays. A total of 90,865 people took the opportunity to tour the temple before its dedication. (Only 40,000 people live in the county.)

The temple was dedicated on Sunday, 23 May 2010, by President and Prophet Thomas S. Monson in three dedicatory sessions. The day started first with a cornerstone ceremony,presided over by President Monson. President Kimball’s son, Andrew Kimball, attended the cornerstone ceremony and remarked that his father always wanted the temple in his hometown community to bear one name: “The Gila Valley Temple,” Emphasizing “The.” He added that his father “is very pleased.”^[13]“‘The Gila Valley,’ plain and simple,” Church News, 29 May 2010.

At  President Monson’s dedicatory prayer asked God to bless the temple so that it would be a “house of prayer, a refuge from the cares of the world and a place of peace and love.”

There is a fun story passed around about the prophets arrival for the dedication. Follow this link and read it, it’s worth the time!

In order to make room for the new temple and a new meetinghouse, two of four Church-owned baseball fields in the community of Central, Arizona, were cleared to make way for the temple and an adjoining meetinghouse on a 17-acre site adjacent to U.S. Route 70

One of many smaller temples built by the Church, the 18,561-square-foot  temple is

Cladding

The exterior is finished in crisp, white architectural precast stone. A motif of interlocking circles is featured in the exterior stonework.

Windows

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The same circles theme is also featured in the art glass windows. There are 60 windows in the temple, with 295 individual art glass panes. The Celestial Room windows alone have 63 individual panes of glass.

There is one incription on The Gila Valley Temple. It is on the north east side of the temple above the entryway doors. The inscription is engraved and gilded.

The cornerstone of The Gila Valley Temple ison the east most corner, south east face. Like the inscription the letters are engraved and gilded.

The Gila Valley Arizona Temple is designed with a contemporary single spire that reaches 104 feet into the air.

The exterior of the temple was completed  with the placement of the Angel Moroni statue on the temple’s steeple on September 22 2009.^[14]Johnston, Jon (September 27, 2009). “Angel placed atop LDS temple”. Eastern Arizona Courier. Retrieved October 27, 2009.

 The Statue was carved in 1982 by Karl Quilter, and is placed ont he spire so that his chest and feet face east.

During remarks prior to the dedicatory prayer, Monson noted that an anonymous benefactor, a woman from the area, had given $500,000 to allow the temple to be adorned with much original artwork.

An inlaid stone pattern of marble and limestone welcomes patrons on the floor of the temple’s entry, and highly polished maple and cherry woods accent the interior. Eleven original pieces of art were commissioned for the temple, one notable piece being a mural of the Gila River Valley, painted by Keith Bond of Colorado, that wraps around one of the temple’s instruction rooms. The mural is 8 feet high and 80 feet long and is intended to give the viewer a sense of being in the surrounding landscape and to invite the viewer to feel reverence for God’s creations.

Entry

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Creation Room

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Garden Room

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World Room

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Terrestrial Room

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Jacobsen Construction was the General Contractor for this project.

contractor and position