Dedication of the Provo Utah Temple
The Provo Utah Temple — which would later be renamed the Provo Utah Rock Canyon 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.”
Nearly 75,000 members of the Church participated in the dedication, watching the proceedings from various buildings around Brigham Young University campus, which is located less than 2 miles away. Years later, the Provo Missionary Training Center would be built across the street from the house of the Lord, allowing missionaries easy access to the blessings that come from worshipping within.
The dedication marked the second time two temples — the Provo Utah Temple and the Ogden Utah Temple — had been dedicated within the same year, and the first time two temples were dedicated less than four weeks apart. The groundbreaking of the temple on Sept. 15, 1969, occurred just seven days after the groundbreaking of the Ogden Utah Temple on Sept. 8, 1969, the first time multiple temples had begun construction within the same month.
During the groundbreaking ceremony of the Provo temple, Lot Robinson, an 89-year-old resident of American Fork, was called out by name. Robinson, as a young boy at 13, had attended the Salt Lake Temple dedication in 1893, almost 40 miles north of his home. Just over 76 years later, he was in attendance at the Provo Utah Temple site to see ground broken for a house of the Lord less than 20 miles south of his home.
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “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 Rock Canyon Temple
The Provo Utah Temple was 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.
The Provo Utah Temple was renamed the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple on Feb. 20, 2024. The name comes from the temple’s location at the mouth of Rock Canyon on Provo’s eastern bench.
Timeline of the Provo Utah Rock Canyon 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 a closure on 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.
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 Rock Canyon 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 began after its closure on Feb. 24, 2024, the month after the Orem Utah Temple was dedicated and more than 50 years after the Provo Utah Temple’s first dedication.