Calgary Alberta Temple

Architectural Rendering of Proposed Design

With an amended bylaw approved, Church representatives are now obtaining the necessary building permits required for construction of the Calgary Alberta Temple to begin. No groundbreaking date has been announced.

On Monday, February 8, 2010, the Calgary City Council approved an amended bylaw for the temple site that permits the height and design of the temple while adding provisions that address neighbors' concerns. These provisions limit the number of places of worship on site to two (the temple and meetinghouse), establish specific building and steeple heights for both places of worship, and restrict access to the site to three specific turn lanes. A report was given to the City Council that includes several renderings of the temple and site plans.¹

On Thursday, November 26, 2009, the Calgary Planning Commission considered the land use amendment to redesignate the temple site from Direct Control District to Special Purpose—Community Institution District, which is necessary to accommodate the building height and steeple height of the temple. The original bylaw already allowed for two comprehensively designed places of worship but at a height that accommodated the meetinghouse only, as the temple was not yet designed. The Commission recommended adoption of the new bylaw, but it also recommended that the City Council consider amending the bylaw to Direct Control District based on S-CI District, which would allow restrictions and specifications that address community concerns to be incorporated directly into the law. The Commission has recommended three readings of the bylaw before it is officially adopted.²

The City report describes the temple as approximately 16 meters (52 feet) tall topped by a steeple rising 36 meters (118 feet) above grade. The two-story temple has an 826-square-meter (8,890-square-foot) footprint with 1,047 square meters (11,270 square feet) below grade. The temple design takes advantage of the sloping lot to provide a walk-out basement on the south side.

The Corporate Planning Applications Group recommended approval because the land use complies with the existing structure plan, is compatible with adjacent land uses, and allows for appropriate use and development of the site. However, opposing neighbors and the Rocky Ridge Royal Oak Community Association do not support the redesignation. Neighbors have written to express their concern over the temple's regional draw, adjacency to residential, height, exterior color, nighttime lighting, and hours of operation—in addition to concerns over traffic, parking, and construction noise. The Chair of the Association expresses his concern over the change in control that the redesignation could have, specifically noting the possibility of a loop hole on height restrictions and difficulty in challenging an access issue, though the Association does not oppose the building and steeple height as proposed.³

On Friday, August 7, 2009, Abbarch Architecture applied for the land use amendment with the City of Calgary to accommodate a "Place of Worship" at 81 Royal Elm Dr NW.⁴ Redesignating the use of land typically takes 3 to 6 months in Calgary. The application is initially reviewed by various City departments and officials before it proceeds with a recommendation to the Calgary Planning Commission and finally to a public hearing held by City Council.

As described by Elder Richard K. Melchin, Area Seventy in the North America Central Area, the temple site is a "beautiful site with a panoramic view of the city." Located next to the Royal Oak Chapel in northwest Calgary, the site was purchased about four years prior to the temple announcement. Over 18,000 members live in Calgary organized into six stakes.⁵

Access to the temple will be greatly facilitated by the recently announced Tuscany/Royal Oak C-Train station. C-Train is Calgary's light rail transit (LRT), which provides public transportation to various sections of the city. The Tuscany/Royal Oak station will be located within short walking distance of the temple at the intersection of Crowchild Trail and Rocky Ridge Road, which borders the temple site to the west. The station was originally planned to be completed after 2023, but on November 7, 2007, the Calgary City Council approved and funded completion of the station by 2011—likely the same year or earlier that the temple will be completed.⁶

The Calgary Ring Road—a beltway project that is surrounding Calgary with a high-capacity freeway—will also improve access to the temple. The Stoney Trail/Crowchild Trail Interchange, just a couple of blocks from the temple site, is planned to be completed in 2009.⁷

President Thomas S. Monson announced the temple in the opening session of General Conference on October 4, 2008.⁸ Once completed, the Calgary Alberta Temple will be Canada's eighth temple and Alberta's third. The other Albertan temples are located in Cardston, Alberta and in Edmonton, Alberta. In the adjoining province of British Columbia, the Vancouver British Columbia Temple is currently under construction.

Mormons first began to settle in southern Alberta in the 1880s as contract workers on the Canadian Pacific Railroad and as farmers in present-day Cardston. By 1895, the first stake in Alberta was established, and membership in the Church has continued to thrive ever since. Today there are over 75,000 members throughout the province.⁹

The Calgary Alberta Temple will be the eighth temple built in Canada and the third in Alberta, following the Cardston Alberta Temple (1923) and the Edmonton Alberta Temple (1999).