The Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a landmark in southern Alberta for nearly 70 years. At the time it was completed and dedicated in 1923, it was only the sixth temple in operation and the second to be completed outside of Utah, where the Church was based. Today there are 44 Mormon temples throughout the world, one under construction and many more on the drawing boards.

Scheduled for a public open house from June 6 through 15 after three years of renovation, the temple, which is situated in the community of , will open its doors to thousands of Canadians, Montanans and others who've not previously had an opportunity to go inside the building because it is restricted for use only by faithful members of the Church.

After the open house, the temple will be re-dedicated for use for marriages, baptism and other sacred ordinances and people not of the Mormon faith will no longer be able to enter.

The elevated property on which the temple stands was given to the Church in 1887 by Charles Ora Card, leader of the first group of to settle the area and the town's namesake. The eight-acre block was then called Tabernacle Block.

It would be more than a quarter-century before ground was broken for the temple.

In 1913, Church President Joseph F. Smith travelled from to Cardston and, before a crowd of 1,500, offered a prayer dedicating the site for the building of a temple.

A few months later ground was broken under the direction of Daniel Kent Greene of

Glenwood, Alberta, and construction commenced. 2-2-2-2

Architects Hyrum Pope and Harold Burton designed the building with an octagonal shape similar to a Maltese cross. Its dimensions were 100 feet by 100 feet, with a height of 85 feet. The interior included what are called ordinance rooms and sealing rooms, plus a baptistry.

White granite was quarried near Kootenay Lakes in Nelson, British Columbia, for the exterior finish of the temple. Each stone was hand-hewn.

Construction was slow by modern standards and it would be nearly ten years before

Smith's successor as world leader of the Latter-day Saints, Heber L. Grant, travelled back to Cardston to preside over the dedication of the newly completed facility during eleven separate services from August 26-29, 1923.

There was some remodelling of the temple in the early 1960's, but the recent renovation was major. The building's electrical and mechanical systems have been completely updated and the interior, including fascinating wall murals in some of the rooms, has been entirely refurbished. In addition, an entry has been added to the front of the building.

After the public open house, the temple will be re-dedicated during 12 separate services June 22-24, presided over by the Church's First Presidency. Attendance at those sessions will be by invitation only to Latter-day Saints who reside within the Alberta

Temple District, which includes 22 stakes of the Church in Alberta, southeast British

Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, western Ontario and northern Montana.

Chairman of the Temple Open House and Dedication Committee is Elder H. Burke 3-3-3-3

Peterson, president of the North America Central Area of the Church and a member of its First Quorum of the Seventy. Lynn A. Rosenvall, Calgary, is the vice chairman, and the temple president who will oversee the operation of the temple after it is rededicated, is Roy R. Spackman of Cardston.

The Church's project representative during the renovation has been Alan J. Rudolph.

Sunrich Contracting, Ltd., Calgary is the general contractor, and the renovation architect is Michael Gibb of Gowling and Gibb, Calgary, working in concert with Church architects in Salt Lake City.

###

FOR INFORMATION CALL 406-245-6146 403-252-1141 ALBCRTA TCMPIE 204-775-0466