Nine New Temples Announced

Two days before conference, President Spencer W. Kimball announced nine new temples to be built in Stockholm, Sweden; Frankfurt, Germany; Johannesburg, South Africa; Seoul, Korea; Manila, Philippines; Lima, Peru; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Dallas, Texas; and Chicago, Illinois.

“We hope that temple building may be continuous,” he said, “and that there will be no let-up in the building of temples so that Latter-day Saints in every nation can have the blessings of temples for their families.”

These nine temples, he added, will be built “as soon as we can do it.”

The nine temples will bring to thirty-seven the total of LDS temples operating in the world. Twenty-one of the thirty-seven have been built or planned during President Kimball’s seven-year administration.

Fred A. Baker, managing director of physical facilities for the Church, said that sites have been selected for the temples in Manila and Chicago and that sites for the others are in process of being selected. Three basic plans were shown, one for a building of 26,000 square feet which is planned for Chicago and Dallas, one for 12,500 which is planned for Frankfurt, and one for 8,500 which is planned for all of the others. These basic plans are essentially the same plans presented at the announcement in April 1980, of seven temples. The plans allow for adaptation to local sites and needs.

During the rest of this year, preparations on the plans and adaptations will continue, and, according to Brother Baker, it is envisioned that all nine of the temples will be completed during 1982.

The temple districts for the new temples will be:

Chicago—Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, virtually all of Illinois and Ohio, plus parts of Iowa, Kentucky, and the Canadian province of Ontario.

Dallas—Texas, Oklahoma, and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana.

Guatemala City—Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Lima—Peru.

Manila—The Philippines.

Seoul—South Korea.

Frankfurt—West Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, and northern France.

Stockholm—Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland.

Johannesburg—Southern Africa.

The Church currently operates thirteen temples in the United States and one each in Canada, New Zealand, England, Switzerland, Brazil, and Japan. Others are being built in Mexico, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Utah, and Georgia. Construction is expected to begin soon on previously announced temples in Australia, Argentina, and Chile.