Mormon temple construction underway despite groundbreaking cancellation
Table of Contents
Construction of a new Mormon temple on Staples Mill Road in Glen Allen got underway this past weekend, but not quite as originally planned.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints officials had scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for April 11 to celebrate the official beginning of construction for the project, which will take shape on the northeast corner of the Staples Mill-Mountain Road intersection. But in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, they canceled those plans.
The project will include a two-story, 36,000-square-foot building and an adjacent 16,000-square-foot meetinghouse.
The temple will be the first for the church in Virginia and will serve Latter-day Saints in Virginia, eastern West Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. It is expected to be completed by late 2022, according to church officials.
More than 100,000 Mormons live in Virginia, according to the church. The closest temples are in suburban Maryland, near Washington, D.C., and near Raleigh, North Carolina.
The design of the temple draws heavily from historical American traditions, said Bill Williams, the church’s director of temple design. Elements found on buildings throughout Virginia – such as Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and the University of Virginia – will be part of the temple’s overall look.
