The renovation of the massive Mesa Arizona Temple is now well underway and expected to see completion sometime late next year or in early 2021.
The work to the nearly 100 year-old structure at 101 South LeSueur Street is seeing the pouring of retaining walls around the temple, as well as the new installation of a foundation for the site’s north reflecting pool.
Additional work to the structure includes the upgrading of electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems, as well as the demolition of one visitors’ center and the construction of a new one.
The Mesa, Arizona project is just one of more than a dozen Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ construction and upgrading projects currently going on across the country.
Other LDS temple renovation projects are underway in Baton Rouge, Oakland, Raleigh, and Washington, with new temple construction planned for Richmond; Yuba City, California; and Washington County, Utah.
New construction also includes the $62 million LDS temple in Pocatello, Idaho, which will measure nearly 70,000 square feet and is expected to be completed by no later than early 2022.
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, the LDS Church is regarded as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the U.S. with more than 16.3 million members.
According to a report recently published in the magazine Religion News, LDS membership has increased at an average rate of around 1.3 percent in recent years, seeing a jump of more than 400,000 members in just the last two years alone.
Altogether, the Church of the Latter Day Saints currently has 162 temples.
By Garry Boulard
