Layton residents react to LDS temple announcement
Apr 2, 2018, 8:58 PM | Updated: Apr 23, 2018, 3:53 pm
LAYTON — Residents of Layton reacted Monday to the news that the LDS Church plans to construct a temple in their city while recent real estate transactions shed light on a possible construction site.
“I think all the other faiths within our city our excited about this also,” said Bob Stevenson, Mayor of Layton City, who says he was told last week that the LDS Church purchased property for a temple in his city.
“It’s by far the most exciting announcement that we’ve had here in our community,” said Bob Stevenson, Mayor of Layton City. “The close to 80,000 people in Layton all were cheering.”
The announcement of Utah’s 19th LDS temple came Sunday afternoon during the final session of 188th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“We want to bring temples closer to the expanding membership of the church,” said concluding speaker President Russell M. Nelson. “So we are now pleased to announce plans to construct seven more temples.”
While no official building site has been announces, residents point to recently sold property off of Oak Hills Drive and Rosewood Lane.
While no official location has been announced for Layton, Stevenson said officials representing the LDS Church in a real estate transaction stopped by his office last week to inform him that land had been acquired within the city’s limits and that the announcement would be made on Sunday.
Stevenson said it was hard to keep quiet in the days leading up to the official announcement. He was in the Conference Center on the second row Sunday afternoon in Salt Lake City to listen to the news in person.
“I think all the other faiths within our city our excited about this also,” Stevenson said, adding that he hopes the temple will become a landmark and enhance the community.
Last week, the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased property off of Oak Hills Drive and Rosewood Lane.
Special warranty deeds filed with the Davis County Recorder’s Office show that on Friday the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased property off of Oak Hills Drive and Rosewood Lane.
“We all screamed in the living room when we heard that it’s going to be in Layton,” said MaryLee Garrett, who lives across the street from the sold farmland. “It’s so crazy to think that they could actually build a temple and I could watch it from my front lawn—it’s going to be beautiful.”
Other residents also reacted to the announcement with excitement and surprise.
“It’s so crazy to think that they could actually build a temple and I could watch it from my front lawn—it’s going to be beautiful,” said MaryLee Garrett, who lives across the street from the sold farmland.
“I think it’s very exciting,” said Rebecca Wilhelmsen, a resident of nearby Syracuse. “It will certainly make it a lot easier having one a lot closer.”
“We’re just happy it’s coming to the area,” said Layton resident Jennifer Bailey. “There’s the Bountiful Temple and then there’s the Ogden Temple and we were just really surprised that they were putting one in Layton because we didn’t realize there was that big of a need.”
