Church Officials Announce Location Of Syracuse Temple
Aug 28, 2020, 10:32 AM | Updated: 8:22 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Syracuse Utah Temple will be built on a 12-acre site at the intersection of 2500 West and 1025 South, less than a mile from Syracuse High School.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made the announcement Friday. President Russell M. Nelson announced the temple in April 2020.
“Yeah, I think we were the only ones in Syracuse who knew when that announcement was coming,” said Neal and Caroline Briggs, who owned the fifth-generation farmland. “It’s been an emotional thing for us … but it’s been a tender thing.”
Plans call for a three-story temple that will be approximately 89,000 square feet. An exterior rendering was to be released at a later date.
Neal Briggs said it was one of the original farms when Syracuse was first settled. He passed up several offers on the land, as he was determined to keep passing it down the family line.
“But I’ve always told my family, if the Lord ever needed land for a temple, I would not say no,” he said.
Neal and Caroline Briggs own the fifth-generation farmland where the Syracuse Utah Temple will be built.
It was a decision he never thought he’d actually be faced with, but the family said it will be worth it.
“It’s an honor to have a temple right here so close to us,” Caroline Briggs said. “It will be a blessing to all of our neighbors that we love.”
“To be able to be a part of something big, as having a temple nearby is … it’s an awesome thing,” Neal Briggs added. “It’s something I never thought would ever happen here.”
Neal Briggs was determined to keep his farmland in the family. He's turned down several offers. Hear how something he told his family years ago, convinced him to change his mind, for the new Syracuse temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. @KSL5TV at 6. pic.twitter.com/hNwP3KEYNT
— Mike Anderson (@mikeandersonKSL) August 28, 2020
The Briggs family isn’t taking any money for the land — they’re trading for another 12 acres to the north, where they’ll continue to farm. They have a son who they say plans to keep the family tradition going.
Additional Temple Renderings Released
There have also been Utah temples announced in Orem, St. George, Taylorsville and Tooele Valley, and there are currently temples under construction in Layton and Saratoga Springs.
Church officials also released renderings for two previously-announced temples in Arkansas and Texas.
In Arkansas, the Church will break ground on the Bentonville temple in November. The single-story temple will be approximately 25,000 square feet and will share the site with an existing meetinghouse. It will be the first temple in the state, where there are more than 32,000 Latter-day Saints.
The McAllen Texas Temple groundbreaking ceremony will also be held in November. It will be built on a 10.6-acre site, and plans call for a single-story structure of approximately 25,000 square feet. It will also share a site with a meetinghouse. It will be the fifth temple in the state.
There are more than 250,000 Latter-day Saints living in Texas.
