Kansas City Missouri Temple |
137th operating temple |
Physical Address
7001 Searcy Creek ParkwayKansas City, Missouri United States |
Mailing Address
6608 NE 70th TerKansas City, MO 64119 Telephone: 816-413-1430
Fax: 816-453-4224 |
Announcement: 4 October 2008
Groundbreaking and Site Dedication: 8 May 2010 by Ronald A. Rasband
Public Open House: 7–28 April 2012
Dedication: 6 May 2012 by Thomas S. Monson
Site: 8.05 acres.
Exterior Finish: Precast concrete.
Ordinance Rooms: Two ordinance rooms (two-stage progressive) and three sealing.
Total Floor Area: 32,000 square feet.
The Kansas City Missouri Temple opens for ordinance work on Tuesday, May 8, 2012. Appointments may be made by calling 816-413-1430.
The Kansas City Missouri Temple was dedicated by President Thomas S. Monson on May 6, 2012. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of The Quorum of the Twelve accompanied him in addition to several other general authorities of the Church. A powerful spirit filled the hearts of all those who were in attendance. In his remarks, President Monson stated that "those early Saints who suffered and sacrificed in this area are rejoicing with us now."
On March 24, 2011, crowds gathered to witness the raising of the gold-leafed angel Moroni statue atop the eastern spire of the Kansas City Missouri Temple. The statue and temple's two spires arrived on site the evening of March 20. The eastern spire went up on March 21 and the western spire of March 22. A finial was installed atop the western spire on March 23, and workers had hoped to install the angel Moroni, too, but winds were too high to proceed.
On Saturday, May 8, 2010, ground was formally broken (view video) for the Kansas City Missouri Temple. Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy presided, and Elder William R. Walker, Executive Director of the Temple Department, was also in attendance. Elder and Sister Rasband and Elder and Sister Walker were among the speakers who emphasized the history and sacrifice of the Saints in Missouri, noting that a large part of the restoration of the gospel took place under the direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith in the area of the temple. The spiritual presence of those early pioneers and leaders could be felt by some in attendance.
Elder Walker remarked that soon after President Hinckley passed away, President Thomas S. Monson turned to him at the at the first Thursday meeting of the general temple committee and said, "Elder Walker, we are not going to slow down one bit in the work of the building of temples."
Elder Donald D. Deshler, Area Seventy, urged those present to prepare their hearts, to be more like the Savior, and to purify their thoughts and actions to be worthy of the temple when it is completed. Six-year-old Kaitlynne Willden began preparing her heart even before the groundbreaking ceremony when she found a heart-shaped rock in the yard of her Uncle Matt and Aunt Jeanne, who are members of the Church in Springfield. She lovingly gifted the rock to her Aunt Jeanne. At the groundbreaking ceremony a few weeks later, the same rock was added to the ground being dug for the foundation of the temple when members were invited to turn soil using gold-colored shovels. Rather than turn the soil, Jeanne and Matt added their piece of soil from the Springfield Missouri South Stake to the temple site.1
On April 17, 2009, the site plan for the Kansas City Missouri Temple development was filed with the city government. On May 20, 2009, the Kansas City Plats Review Committee reviewed the plan, which was a Community Unit Project featuring the temple, an adjoining meetinghouse, and 140 single family residential units. The plan was advanced to the City Plan Commission.2
On May 21, 2009, project representatives held a neighborhood meeting at the new patrol station located south of the temple property. About 20 neighbors accepted the invitation to attend where an explanation of the project was presented and questions were entertained.
On June 2, 2009, the City Plan Commission of Kansas City unanimously approved with conditions a set of three proposals by Continental Consulting Engineers, Inc., for a 56-acre tract of land—generally located south of NE Shoal Creek Drive, east of Searcy Creek Parkway, west of Interstate 435 and north of NE Pleasant Valley Road—to (1) amend the Shoal Creek Valley Area Plan by changing the recommended land use designation from retail and residential to residential uses (2) rezone from Districts CP-2 (local planned business center district) and RA (agricultural district) to R-5 (high apartment district) and District R-1a (one-family dwelling district – medium density) and (3) approve a Community Unit Project plan for 140 single family residential units (R1-a zone), and a temple and a chapel (R5 zone).3
On July 29, 2009, the Kansas City Planning and Zoning Committee (watch video) unanimously recommended to the City Council the proposed Shoal Creek Valley Area Plan amendment, rezoning ordinance, and Community Unit Project that would allow construction of the temple and meetinghouse (9.33 acres) and 140 single family residential units (46.72 acres) on a 56-acre tract of land southwest of the intersection of I-435 and NE Shoal Creek Parkway. The project would be built in four phases, beginning with the proposed 27.25-acre Central phase, which features the temple, meetinghouse, 41 single family residential units, and about 5 acres of private open space. The primary access to the temple would be from newly constructed Searcy Creek Parkway. The temple, meetinghouse, and parking complex will be bordered by proposed public streets: NE 70th Terrace, NE 70th Street, and N Ewing Avenue.4
On July 30, 2009, the Kansas City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to amend the Shoal Creek Valley Area Plan and unanimously passed a rezoning ordinance and preliminary Community Unit Project for the 56-acre parcel where the Kansas City temple site is located. The preliminary Community Unit Project was approved subject to a list of 28 conditions. The conditions include the granting of various easements to the City, the acquisition of various permits, and the submission of various documents including the following: a plat map; storm drainage study; a street name signage plan; a grading, siltation, and erosion control plan; a final stream buffer plan; covenants, conditions, and restrictions; a tree planting plan; and a final site plan for approval.5
On August 5, 2009, the Kansas City Plats Review Committee reviewed The Meadows at Searcy Creek—a 25-lot subdivision on 28.8 acres generally located at the northwest corner of NE Pleasant Valley Road and I-435 in District R-5 and R-1a. District R-5, a district for high apartments, had been recently established at that location to allow for the height of the temple and an adjoining meetinghouse. District R-1a is a district for one-family dwellings. On August 18, 2009, the Kansas City Plan Commission recommended approval of the plat.6
On October 22, 2009, the Kansas City Council (watch video) approved the final plat of The Meadows at Searcy Creek First Plat. The plat subdivides approximately 26 acres, generally located south of NE Shoal Creek Drive, east of Searcy Creek Parkway, west of Interstate 435 and north of NE Pleasant Valley Road, into one church lot, 22 single family lots, and numerous tracts. A day earlier, on October 21, the Planning and Zoning Committee (watch video) gave its recommendation of approval to the Council.7
On December 18, 2009, the official plat of the The Meadows at Searcy Creek First Plat was recorded by the Clay County Recorder of Deeds.
Beginning March 1, 2010, numerous permits for the temple were issued contingent on City review for code compliance. The reviews include a building plan review, general project permit plan review, quality control review, grading and erosion control plan review, storm drainage study review, and miscellaneous items review.8
At the Liberty Missouri Stake Conference held on Sunday, October 12, 2008, the site for the temple was announced as southwest of the intersection of I-435 and Shoal Creek Parkway. The site is situated on land located near the southern tip of Shoal Creek Valley—a beautiful mixed development owned by the Church in northeast Kansas City, just west of the Liberty Jail Historic Site.9
President Thomas S. Monson announced a temple for the greater Kansas City area during his opening remarks of the October 2008 General Conference.10 The Church first attempted to build a temple in this area in the 1830s when the early Saints dedicated a temple site in Independence, Missouri in 1831 and farther north in Far West, Missouri in 1838. Those temples were never constructed, however, as the Mormons were driven out of Missouri persuant to an extermination order issued by Governor Lilburn W. Boggs in 1838.
Mormons had also settled in Kansas, but they left when the Church relocated its headquarters to Nauvoo, Illinois, and then to Salt Lake City, Utah. Church members are now found in every major city in the Midwest. Kansas City's first stake was established in 1956. Today there are approximately 100,000 members in Missouri and Kansas organized into 21 stakes where the Church has one operating temple in St. Louis, Missouri.11
The Kansas City Missouri Temple was the second temple built in Missouri, following the St. Louis Missouri Temple (1997), though temple sites were dedicated in the 1830s in Independence, Far West, and Adam-ondi-Ahman.
Beautiful white oak harvested from Adam-ondi-Ahman was used throughout the interior of the Kansas City Missouri Temple.
1. Matthew Towns, "Kansas City Missouri Temple Construction Photograph," Email to Rick Satterfield, 8 May 2010.
2. Virginia Walsh, City Planning and Development Department, Memorandum on Plats Review Committee Meeting - Wednesday – May 20, 2009, 13 May 2009, 27 Jul. 2009 <http://www.kcmo.org/planning/devmgmt/PRC_agendas/2009/5-20-09.pdf>.
3. "City Plan Commission Docket," City of Kansas City, Missouri 2 Jun. 2009, 27 Jul. 2009 <http://www.kcmo.org/planning/devmgmt/CPC/2009%20Dockets/06-02-09%20CPC%20Docket.pdf>.
4. "Fact Sheet: Case Nos. 405-S-40, 11265-P-1 and 11265-CUP-2," City of Kansas City, Missouri 2 Jul. 2009, 27 Jul. 2009 <http://cityclerk.kcmo.org/liveweb/Documents/ViewAttachment.aspx?q=3xGy6Gmgrg4uZXBXaYrq2emqx%2F8YLaQ9yte1PgdH4PyrdESBdO8uJBtLGgbvMLjXN4TwsV6cOuPuWov9w%2B5XntG3JPYL%2F5YQ>.
5. "Kansas City Council Record," City of Kansas City, Missouri 30 Jul. 2009, 13 Aug. 2009 <http://cityclerk.kcmo.org/liveweb/Meetings/CouncilMinutes.aspx?q=P%2ba4Hs%2fO7mkPQRofAf2x91YOB%2bEhkpVMFbsNNENueQeBXliej4LgigiLHGBwoC3f>.
6. "City Plan Commission Docket," City of Kansas City, Missouri 18 Aug. 2009, 13 Aug. 2009 <http://www.kcmo.org/planning/devmgmt/CPC/2009%20Dockets/08-18-09%20CPC%20Docket.pdf>.
7. "Kansas City Council Record," City of Kansas City, Missouri 22 Oct. 2009, 22 Oct. 2009 <http://cityclerk.kcmo.org/LiveWeb/Meetings/CouncilMinutes.aspx?q=ldjGkY8LZZzB%2b8t09Sj578qFenyLEQW3xSGL2U4ViJ1n1o%2b0jssbK5mqrNhAfrnxT0v7UWqwMgI%3d>.
8. "Project Detail," City of Kansas City, Missouri 6 Mar. 2010 <http://kivaweb.kcmo.org/kivanet/2/project/index.cfm?fa=dspjdtl&project=CR201010837&jur=KCMO>.
9. Reports from numerous members in the Kansas City area.
10. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, "Church Continues Temple Building Throughout the World," 4 Oct. 2008.
11. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, "Temple Announced for Greater Kansas City Area," 4 Oct. 2008.
