Buenos Aires Argentina Temple |
39th operating temple; currently closed for renovation; anticipated to reopen in 2011 |
Phone Number: (54) 11-4487-1520.
Site: 3 acres.
Exterior Finish: Light gray native granite.
Temple Design: Modern adaptation of six-spire design.
Number of Rooms: Four ordinance rooms and three sealing.
Total Floor Area: 11,980 square feet.
Groundbreaking and Site Dedication: 20 April 1983 by Bruce R. McConkie
Public Open House: 17–24 December 1985
Dedication: 17–19 January 1986 by Thomas S. Monson
The First Presidency announced that the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple would close on November 1, 2009, for approximately 18 months for an expansion and complete remodeling of the interior. Upon completion, the temple will be rededicated. During the closure, members of the temple district will be received at the Montevideo Uruguay Temple and the Asunción Paraguay Temple by appointment.
Located on the western outskirts of Buenos Aires in the suburb of Ciudad Evita, the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple is easily accessible from the Teniente General Pablo Ricchieri Freeway. Notable features of the building include its large sloping rooftops, six soaring spires, and three major wings branching from a central foyer. Also on site are a Missionary Training Center and patron housing facility. The impeccable grounds are anchored by a grand plaza featuring a sublime water feature.
The Buenos Aires Argentina Temple was the first temple built in Argentina and the fourth in South America, following the São Paulo Brazil Temple (1978), the Santiago Chile Temple (1983), and the Lima Perú Temple (1986).
Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made a historic visit to Buenos Aires on Christmas Day in 1925 to dedicate all of South America for the preaching of the gospel.
Ground was broken for the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple on April 20, 1983. Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided. He passed away two years later on April 19, 1985, just eight months before the open house of the temple began.
Over 29,000 visitors toured the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple during the eight days of its public open house with some visitors waiting two and a half hours to get inside. Numerous newspapers and radio stations announced the events connected with the opening of the temple.
The Buenos Aires Argentina Temple was dedicated just one week after its South American sister building, the Lima Perú Temple.
A total of 9,630 Saints attended the eleven dedicatory sessions of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple, many traveling long distances from within the country and from Uruguay.
Bishop Ángel Abrea—a native of Argentina—was simultaneously called as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy and as the first president of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple.
The Missionary Training Center and patron housing facility that share the site of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple were dedicated on March 5, 1994, by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, approximately eight years after the dedication of the temple.
