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Temple Dedication:
February 9, 1972 by Joseph Fielding Smith
Location:
2200 Temple Hill Drive; Provo, Utah (at the entrance of Rock Canyon
on the east bench of Provo)
Site:
17 acres.
Exterior
Finish: White cast stone; gold anodized aluminum grills; bronze
glass panels; single spire finished in gold and anodized aluminum.
Temple Design:
Modern and functional single spire design.
Number of
Rooms: Six ordinance rooms and twelve sealing.
Total Floor
Area: 115,000 square feet.
Current Temple
Schedule: Provo
Temple Schedule
Dedicatory
Prayer Excerpt: "Our souls are troubled and we weep because
of the wickedness of the world and the evils that abound on every hand.
Out of deep concern, therefore, we pray for the youth of Zion, for the
young and rising generation, for those who must now prepare themselves
to bear up the kingdom in their time and season. Keep them from evil; hedge
up the way so they may not fall into sin and be overcome by the world.
O Lord, bless the youth of Zion and us their leaders that we may guide
and direct them aright. We know that Thy kingdom shall roll onward and
that hosts of the
young and rising generation shall yet stand forth in power and great glory
as witnesses of Thy name and teachers of Thy law. Preserve them, O our
God; enlighten their minds and pour out upon them Thy Holy Spirit, as they
prepare for the great work that shall rest upon them. Let that great temple
of learning, the Brigham Young University, and all that is associated with
it, and all other Church schools, institutes, and seminaries be prospered
to the full."
Comments:
The First Presidency announced in 1967 that two new temples were to be
built in Utah. The Provo and Ogden Temples would be the first to be erected
in Utah in over seventy-five years. The Presidency explained that fifty-two
percent of all temple work being done in the Church was being done in the
Salt Lake, Logan, and Manti temples. Rather than expand these existing
temples, the Church decided to build two new ones that would help reduce
the travel time required by the Saints. For years the hill just northeast
of downtown Provo had been called "Temple Hill," but in 1911, the
Maeser Building of Brigham Young University was constructed there. The
campus continued to grow to the north and east, but in 1967, seventeen
acres at the mouth of Rock Canyon remained undeveloped even though the
property was surrounded by subdivisions. Easily visible from most parts
of the Utah Valley, this became the site for the Provo Temple. Church architect
Emil B. Fetzer designed the functional Provo and Ogden temples. Efficiency
and convenience were the prime goal of this project. He was to create a
design that would accommodate a large number of people but at a reasonable
cost. The six ordinance room design
evolved. These rooms would be surrounded by an exterior hallway and all
adjoin the central Celestial Room. He reported that the idea for this arrangement
came to him when he read about a similarly designed park developed in Denmark.
The dedication was able to be completed in only two sessions because several
large auditoriums on the BYU campus carried the proceedings. The silent
throngs that left the 23,000-seat Marriott Center was truly an amazing
experience. Since its construction, the Provo temple has led the Church
in the total number of endowments performed for the dead, even when the
estimated participation from Brigham Young University and the Missionary
Training Center was eliminated.
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