Utah’s newest Latter-day Saint temple will open to public tours beginning this weekend.
The Saratoga Springs Temple, 987 S. Ensign Drive, will host private tours for invited guests Tuesday through Friday before opening to the public on Saturday. Tours will be conducted Mondays through Saturdays from April 15 through July 8.
According to a Monday news release, President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the governing First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is scheduled to dedicate the temple Aug. 13.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) The Celestial Room in the Saratoga Springs Temple.
Tours start at 9 a.m.; the last tour each day begins at 7:55 p.m. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. Tickets are available online. Tours include a brief video overview, followed by a short walking tour. Comfortable shoes and modest dress are recommended. The tour is wheelchair accessible.
The temple was announced by then-church President Thomas S. Monson in April 2017; ground was broken in October 2019. The “design cues and color palette” of the single-spired, Angel Moroni-topped, three-story, 87,000-square-foot building, the release noted, “are inspired by the blues, purples, golds and greens of surrounding flora and fauna, such as wildflowers, marsh grass, reeds and the snowy egrets.”
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Panels decorate the exterior of the Saratoga Springs depicting scenes from nearby Utah Lake.
The temple includes everything from imported mahogany and marble to custom art-glass windows and crystal chandeliers, all of which are “designed to enhance the experience for those who come to worship in this holy place.”
“Because we’re building his house, we strive to give our … very best craftsmanship, the very best materials that we can,” general authority Seventy Kevin R. Duncan, the Temple Department’s executive director, explained in the release. “It’s not ostentatious. It’s simplistic beauty that elevates one’s vision toward Christ.”
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) A sealing room in the Saratoga Springs Temple.
Latter-day Saints consider a temple to be a House of the Lord, where Jesus Christ’s teachings are reaffirmed through ordinances that unite families for eternity. After it is dedicated, only faithful members of the church are allowed to enter.
When it begins operations in August, the Saratoga Springs Temple will be the fifth operating temple in Utah County, joining two in Provo and one each in American Fork and Payson. Two others are planned, in Lindon and Orem.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Some of the doors, made of Sapele African Mahogany in the Saratoga Springs Temple, feature art glass and hardware designs of wetland grass and water representing nearby Utah Lake.
Currently, 14 temples are operating in the Utah — Bountiful, Brigham City, Cedar City, Draper, Jordan River (South Jordan), Logan, Monticello, Mount Timpanogos (American Fork), Ogden, Oquirrh Mountain (South Jordan), Payson, Provo, Provo City Center and Vernal.
The historic Salt Lake, Manti and St. George temples are closed while undergoing renovation.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) The bridal room at the Saratoga Springs Temple.
Utah has a total of 28 existing or planned temples. That number worldwide, according to the church, now stands at 315.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) A west-facing view of the Saratoga Springs Temple.
