Provo Utah Temple | Church News Almanac

Publish date: 2024-08-08

Dedication of the Provo Utah Temple

The Provo Utah Temple was dedicated on Feb. 9, 1972. Church President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote the dedicatory prayer, which was read by President Harold B. Lee, first counselor in the First Presidency.

President Smith presided over the ceremony. In his opening remarks, he shared that the dedication fell on the 172nd anniversary of the birth of his grandfather, Hyrum Smith. President Joseph Fielding Smith shared how grateful he was for the restored Church in these latter days: “I am pleased that we are celebrating [Hyrum Smith’s birthday] by presenting to the Lord another holy temple, wherein those keys and powers, held jointly by him and the Prophet Joseph Smith, may be used for the salvation and exaltation of many of our Father’s children.”

In the temple’s dedicatory prayer, President Smith wrote, “It has been our privilege, as guided by the whisperings of thy Spirit, to build unto thee this temple, which we now present unto thee as another of thy holy houses.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Provo Utah Temple here.

Reconstruction of the Provo Utah Temple

The Provo Utah Temple will be closed at the end of the day on Feb. 24, 2024, for extensive reconstruction. The location of the reconstructed temple will remain in the location of the current building.

On Oct. 3, 2021, President Russell M. Nelson announced that the Provo Utah Temple would be reconstructed after the dedication of the Orem Utah Temple. On June 20, 2023, the Church announced the date of the closure.

Timeline of the Provo Utah Temple

August

1967

September

1969

Groundbreaking

The temple’s groundbreaking ceremony was held Sept. 15, 1969, with President Hugh B. Brown, first counselor in the First Presidency, presiding.

January

1972

Open house

An open house for the Provo Utah Temple was held from Jan. 8 to Jan. 29, 1972. A total of 246,201 people came to the event. Special tours were held for groups with unique needs, such as a group for people who were visually impaired who were led by the temple president and told vivid descriptions of what this house of the Lord looked like.

February

1972

Dedication

The Provo Utah Temple was dedicated on Feb. 9, 1972, by Church President Joseph Fielding Smith. President Harold B. Lee, first counselor in the First Presidency, read the dedicatory prayer. The temple was dedicated throughout two sessions and broadcast to large auditoriums on the Brigham Young University campus via closed-circuit television.

October

2021

Reconstruction announcement

February

2024

Closed for reconstruction

This house of the Lord will close for extensive reconstruction at the end of the day on Feb. 24, 2024. This closure will happen around a month after the Orem Utah Temple is dedicated, allowing templegoers in the area access to another temple in close proximity.

SEE ALL Timeline of the Provo Utah Temple

The Provo Utah Temple was announced by President Hugh B. Brown and President N. Eldon Tanner of the First Presidency on Aug. 14, 1967. Ground was broken on Sept. 15, 1969, and once construction was completed, an open house was held from Jan. 8 to Jan. 29, 1972.

President Joseph Fielding Smith dedicated the temple on Feb. 9, 1972, and President Harold B. Lee, first counselor in the First Presidency, read the dedicatory prayer.

President Russell M. Nelson announced on Oct. 3, 2021, that the Provo Utah Temple would be reconstructed, with construction starting Feb. 24, 2024, a month after the dedication of the Orem Utah Temple.

Original Architecture and Design of the Provo Utah Temple

The Provo Utah Temple covers an area of 130,825 square feet and sits on a 17-acre site. It rises 175 feet high with a 118-foot spire above the center of the building. The temple has a flat, round base with a spire in the center, made to represent Exodus 13:21 as the Lord went before the children of Israel “by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light.”

The exterior is lined with white cast stone, gold anodized aluminum grills and bronze glass panels. The center spire was originally finished in gold and anodized aluminum. In May 2003, the spire was painted white when a statue of the angel Moroni was placed upon it.

Inside the house of the Lord are six ordinance rooms to allow a new session to start every 20 minutes. The temple also has a baptistry, a celestial room and 12 sealing rooms. The design uses four floors, including a below-ground floor with the baptistry. The celestial room sits in the center of the top floor, with the ordinance rooms surrounding it.

The top two floors have a corridor circling around the entire building, whose inspiration came from a park surrounded by an elliptical roadway in Copenhagen, Denmark. This design provides an easier flow of patrons and makes it almost impossible to get lost.

Renovated Architecture and Design of the Provo Utah Temple

During October 2021 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson announced that the Provo Utah Temple would be reconstructed. A rendering of this reconstruction was released the month after, on Nov. 24, 2021.

Plans call for a building with long, arched windows on the front facade, as well as three white arches in front of the entrance. A multilevel tower with a rectangular base and golden spire will sit above the center of the building.

Reconstruction of the Provo Utah Temple will begin on Feb. 24, 2024, the month after the Orem Utah Temple is dedicated and more than 50 years after the Provo Utah Temple’s first dedication.