The renovation of the Manti Utah Temple is nearly complete and the public will be able to see the changes during an open house that will run from Thursday, March 14, through Friday, April 5, 2024, excluding Sundays.
After the open house, the temple will be rededicated on Sunday, April 21, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Monday.
A media day will be held on March 11. Traditionally, that is when the first images from inside a new or renovated temple are released.
The Manti Temple is one of four pioneer-era temples that the church’s leader, President Russell M. Nelson, said would be restored. He first mentioned the massive undertaking of the four large temples in October 2018.
- St. George, which closed for renovation in November 2019, once again will be the first to open. The public open house ended on Nov. 11, and the temple will be rededicated on Dec. 10 by President Jeffrey R. Holland.
- The Manti Temple will be the second of the four to be completed.
- The Salt Lake Utah Temple renovation is now more than 50% complete. The temple closed at the end of 2019. The latest estimate is that it will be completed in 2026.
- Renovation plans for the fourth pioneer-era temple, the Logan Utah Temple, are pending.
Some expressed dismay when church officials announced in early 2021 that walls inside the temple bearing priceless Minerva Teichert murals would be removed because of damage.
President Russell M. Nelson then announced that the walls and murals would be cleaned, preserved and remain in place in the temple.
Teichert painted the murals on canvas in 1947. Workers adhered the canvas murals to the plaster walls in the temple’s world room. The murals depict God’s hand in the sweep of human history from the tower of babel to what Latter-day Saints believe is the establishment of Zion in the American West.
The Manti Temple was dedicated on May 21, 1888, making it the third temple in Utah, after St. George and Logan.
The Manti Temple went through a significant, four-year renovation in the 1980s, then was rededicated in 1985 by President Gordon B. Hinckley.
The rededication in April will be broadcast to all congregations in the Manti Utah Temple district. Additional details regarding the rededication will be announced at a future date.