Montpelier Idaho Temple
Plans to construct the Montpelier Idaho Temple was announced on April 3, 2022, by President Russell M. Nelson. The Montpelier Idaho Temple will be the ninth temple built in Idaho, following the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple (1945), the Boise Idaho Temple (1984), the Rexburg Idaho Temple (2008), the Twin Falls Idaho Temple (2008), the Meridian Idaho Temple (2017), the Pocatello Idaho Temple (2021), the Burley Idaho Temple (under construction), and the Teton River Idaho Temple (planning stages).
Montpelier, Idaho, is a community of around 2,500 people located just north of Bear Lake along the southeastern Idaho border. Early Church pioneers settled in Idaho in 1855. Several presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are natives of Idaho, including presidents Harold B. Lee, Ezra Taft Benson, and Howard W. Hunter.
Location
The Montpelier Idaho Temple is currently in the planning stages. The location was announced by the Church on May 20, 2022. It will be built on a 2.6-acre parcel located on Washington Street between North 6th Street and North 5th Street. The Church has acquired nine properties in this block east of the Montpelier Tabernacle (renovated in 2015) including the former City Hall building. The city fixture, which was built in the late 1910s at the same time as the tabernacle, was demolished in March 2021. Several residences on the property have been demolished or relocated. The property lies south of the Bear Lake County Library and the John A. Bagley House—a Queen Anne-style Victorian known as the Purple Sage that was built in 1902 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]
Renderings of the Montpelier Idaho Temple and site plan have not yet been publicly released.
Groundbreaking
[[Image:Choir_Shoveling.jpg|300px|thumb|left|frame|Invited guests ceremonially turn the dirt at the groundbreaking ceremony. In this photo, participants of the children's choir take their turn. ©2023 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.]
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Montpelier Idaho Temple was held on June 17, 2023. Elder Ryan K. Olsen, General Authority Seventy, presided and offered the dedicatory prayer. Though space was limited, over 600 people from the surrounding area attended. There are more than 15,000 Latter-day Saints in the proposed temple district.
Temples in Idaho
- Boise Idaho Temple
- Burley Idaho Temple
- Coeur d'Alene Idaho Temple
- Idaho Falls Idaho Temple
- Meridian Idaho Temple
- Montpelier Idaho Temple
- Pocatello Idaho Temple
- Rexburg Idaho Temple
- Teton River Idaho Temple
- Twin Falls Idaho Temple
