On Monday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ newly renovated Columbus Ohio Temple opened its doors to the media and special guests.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine attended the first day of the event, alongside church leaders Elder Allen D. Haynie and Elder Vaiangina Sikahema of the North American Northeast Area presidency; Elder Kevin R. Duncan, executive director of the church’s Temple Department; and Elder Kevin W. Birch, who is an Area Seventy, per a release.
The temple will be open for touring and public viewing daily starting on April 29, and will run until May 13 — excluding Sundays. Open house tickets are available for everyone online, free of charge, with tours lasting about 50 minutes, reported The Church News.
The church released a video showing the details of the temple, including the focused usage of the magnolia blossom, which symbolizes purity and is common in the Columbus area. Flowering across the stained glass on the temple’s spire — just below the statue of angel Moroni — the magnolia is colored pink.
With the original dedication in September 1999, the temple was due for an extensive renovation that included improved acoustics to create a quieter and more reverent experience for templegoers in the hustle and bustle of central Ohio, as well as climate control improvements made outside the temple, making it more energy efficient.
During the temple’s three-year renovation, the nearest temples for local church members was almost three hours away in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky.
The temple will be dedicated on June 4 in two sessions by President M. Russell Ballard, who is the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Another temple was announced in April 2022 that will be built in Cleveland, although a groundbreaking date hasn’t been released yet.