Mormons open new chapel in Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A Mormon church in Albemarle County will hold its first Sunday service today in its new 25,000-square-foot facility — after spending more than a decade trying to determine a building site.The church long ago outgrew a building on Hydraulic Road, the only Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the area, said Larry Sidwell, a senior high councilor for the local congregational region.For years, church leaders tried to find land for a new building, Sidwell said, but they continued to encounter problems: everything from permit issues to a property owner who didn't want to sell to Mormons.They finally settled on property on Timberwood Boulevard off Airport Road, and the new church was finished last month, after 14 months of construction.