Two days after announcing plans to build a 24th temple in Utah, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released renderings of two previously named Beehive State temples.
The Tooele Valley Temple, announced a year ago, will be three stories and contain about 70,000 square feet, according to a Tuesday news release. It will be built northwest of the intersection of Erda Way and Highway 36 in Erda.
The Washington County Temple, the second such edifice in St. George, also will be three stories but a bit larger, approximately 90,000 square feet.
This temple, announced in fall 2018, is to go up on a 14-acre site northeast of 1580 S. 3000 East.
The Washington County Temple will have a golden Angel Moroni statue atop its steeple, the renderings show, while the Tooele Valley one will not. More and more of the church’s recently announced temples are being built without this iconic figure, which represents Moroni, a prophet in the faith’s signature scripture, the Book of Mormon.
Interior renderings of the planned temples are not yet available. No groundbreaking dates have been set.
St. George’s pioneer-era temple, the faith’s first in Utah when it was dedicated in 1877, closed last fall to undergo extensive renovation and is expected to reopen in 2022.
The state’s 24th Latter-day Saint temple, announced Sunday by church President Russell M. Nelson, will be built in Syracuse.