Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined with community and interfaith leaders in southeastern Idaho Saturday morning, March 16, 2019, for the official groundbreaking ceremony of the Pocatello Idaho Temple.
Elder Wilford W. Andersen of the Seventy presided at the ceremony and offered the dedicatory prayer at the temple site on the cool but sunny day on the Gate City’s east side.
Elder Andersen was joined by Elder S. Gifford Nielsen of the Seventy and Elder Brian K. Taylor of the Seventy. Music was provided by a local choir. Selections included “Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise” and “Redeemer of Israel.”
Attendance at this ceremony was by invitation only, and the general public viewed the proceedings live from local meetinghouses.
The temple will be located east of Satterfield Drive and Butte Street in Pocatello in a new subdivision known as Crestview Estates – Division 2. Construction on the temple is expected to take between two and three years to complete.
An artist rendering of the temple features a three-story, 67,696-square-foot temple with a center spire. The temple will occupy a 12.77-acre site and will include views of the Snake River Plain.
Once completed, the temple will serve more than 64,000 Latter-day Saints from southeastern Idaho.
Earlier this month, Church representatives shared renderings at a neighborhood open house for those who live near the temple site.
The Pocatello Idaho Temple will be the Church’s sixth temple in the Gem State. The Church currently has 162 operating temples worldwide, with another 40 announced or under construction.
