Ogden Utah Temple

The Ogden Utah Temple (formerly the Ogden Temple) is the sixteenth constructed and fourteenth operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in Ogden, Utah, it was built with a modern, single-spire design very similar to the Provo Utah Temple.

The temples in Ogden and Provo were planned due to overcrowding in the Salt Lake, Manti, and Logan temples. The Ogden Temple serves more than 135,000 members. The temple in Ogden was announced on August 24, 1967. On September 7, 1970, a cornerstone laying ceremony was held. The site for the temple is a 10-acre (40,000 m2) lot called Tabernacle Square that the Church had owned since the area was settled. In 1921, LDS Church president Heber J. Grant inspected the site as a possible place for a temple but decided the time was not right for a temple in the area.

The Ogden Temple is different from the previous temples built by the LDS Church in several ways. First, the design is extremely contemporary. Second, the lot chosen for the Ogden Temple is in downtown Ogden, surrounded by businesses and offices. The Ogden Temple is also significant because it was the first temple built in Utah since the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated in 1893.

The Ogden Temple is 115,000 square feet (10,700 m2) and has four floors, one below ground. There are six ordinance rooms and eleven sealing rooms. The stone on the Ogden Temple is fluted and decorative metal grillwork has been added between the stone. Gold windows with directional glass also add to the beauty of the temple.

The Ogden Temple was dedicated on January 18, 1972, by Joseph Fielding Smith, a few weeks before the Provo Utah Temple was dedicated. Beginning in 2001 and lasting through much of 2002, both the exterior of the temple and the surrounding grounds underwent significant changes. Weather damage to the exterior of the temple was repaired and the spire, which was originally a yellowish-gold, was painted bright white. A fiberglass statue of the Angel Moroni covered in gold leaf was added to the temple's spire, almost 30 years after the temple was dedicated. The temple grounds received walkways and paths allowing visitors to walk around the temple as well as to access the structure from the main adjacent street.

On February 17, 2010, the LDS Church announced that the Ogden Temple would undergo major exterior renovations that will significantly modify the look of the building. The upgrades include replacing old electrical, heating, and plumbing systems with more modern, energy-saving equipment. Additional improvements include construction of a new underground parking structure, complete re-landscaping of the temple block, and renovation of the adjacent Ogden Tabernacle, which will lose its spire. The interior will be reduced from 131,000 to 115,000 sq ft, but through an improved design, there will be more usable space after the reconstruction.