An exterior rendering of South Dakota’s first temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was released Monday in a church press release.
The Rapid City South Dakota Temple, which was first announced in April 2025, will be built on a 4.86-acre lot in Rapid City, South Dakota, the state’s second-largest city.
Plans for the temple lot call for a single-story temple structure of approximately 11,800 square feet accompanied by an ancillary building.
The Rapid City temple was one of 15 temples announced in April 2025 general conference by church President Russell M. Nelson — the last conference he spoke in before his death on Sept. 27, 2025.
As South Dakota’s first Latter-day Saint temple, the Rapid City temple will help serve the more than 12,000 Latter-day Saints that reside in the state.
“Regular worship in the house of the Lord increases our capacity for both virtue and charity,” President Nelson said, just moments before announcing the Rapid City temple and 14 others. “Thus, time in the temple increases our confidence before the Lord.”
President Nelson announced 200 new temples during his more than seven-year ministry as Latter-day Saint prophet. Of those 200, seven were the first announced for their respective U.S. states, and 29 were the first announced for their nations or territories.
Learn more about the Rapid City temple and others worldwide on the Church News’ temple almanac.
