Draper Utah Temple

© 2006, Intellectual Reserve. All rights reserved.

As of May 2008, landscaping of the temple grounds progresses rapidly, and granite facing of the exterior has now reached the base of the spire.

Church President, Gordon B. Hinckley, broke ground and dedicated the site for the temple on August 5, 2006. "It is a great tribute to our people," he said. "They are so faithful in temple attendance and it is for this reason that we construct this beautiful house of the Lord." Construction of the temple is expected to be completed in 2008.¹

On May 18, 2006, Draper's planning commission approved plans for the temple. The 57,000-square-foot facility will reach 166 feet high, capped by a gold-leafed statue of the angel Moroni. The design is reminiscent of the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple with its white walls, central spire, and stair-step design. A large variety of trees will surround the temple, which will be served by 492 parking spaces. The hillside site of the temple, located near 1,000 acres of dedicated open space, commands an inspiring view of the entire valley.²

On February 8, 2005, the Draper City Council unanimously approved a change to zoning ordinances, which removed the only obstacle to construction of the temple. The change allows for "houses of worship" to reach 90 feet high in the residential area of the temple site. The new ordinance, which applies only to occupied areas of a building, does not restrict the height of steeples or spires.³

Evan Nelson of the Church's Temples and Major Projects Division met with Draper officials in November 2004 to discuss the City's concerns from the get-go to get the project started on the right foot.⁴

On Sunday, November 21, 2004, a letter from the First Presidency was read to Church congregations in south Salt Lake Valley, announcing Draper as the location of the Salt-Lake-area temple announced in General Conference the previous month. The Draper edifice joins the Salt Lake Temple and the Jordan River Utah Temple in serving the rapidly growing number of Church members in the Salt Lake Valley. The lot is located in the foothills near Corner Canyon at approximately 2000 East and 14000 South. Rumors of a Draper temple had been circulating for months, since, two years ago, the Church told Corner Canyon's developer the reason for its purchase of additional acreage next to its site for a stake center was to build a temple. The Church owns 12 acres in all—the stake center occupying 2 of those acres, and the temple and a joint parking facility occupying the rest.⁵

President Hinckley announced that the Church would build another temple in the Salt Lake Valley during the Saturday morning session of General Conference held October 2, 2004, though he did not disclose the chosen location at that time.⁶

The Draper Utah Temple was the third temple built in the Salt Lake Valley, following the Salt Lake Temple (1893) and the Jordan River Utah Temple (1981) and the twelfth built in Utah.