Temple location to be a canyon in Draper
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The newest temple in the Salt Lake Valley will be constructed at the valley's extreme south end in the Corner Canyon area of Draper, the First Presidency has announced.
President Gordon B. Hinckley at the recent general conference in October said another temple in the valley would be built at a location to be announced. In a letter dated Nov. 17 and read in sacrament meetings of selected Church units on Nov. 21, the Brethren said the location would be Corner Canyon — named for its position in the southeast corner of the valley — and the building would "share a large site with the stake center now being constructed" at that location, "utilizing a large common parking facility."
"We are confident that this temple will be a blessing to the many faithful Saints in this rapidly-growing area," the letter read. "It will accommodate the overcrowded evening and weekend sessions now experienced in the Jordan River Utah Temple."
Priesthood leaders will be notified of the yet-to-be-determined groundbreaking date, the letter indicated. Boundaries for the new temple district were not announced.
Along with the Salt Lake (completed in 1893) and Jordan River (1981) temples, this will be the third temple constructed in the Salt Lake Valley.
The temple site is situated in an up-scale neighborhood of newer homes on what is known locally as South Mountain, which has seen an explosion of development in recent years.
"We're delighted to have it there," said President Richard Beard of the Draper Utah Corner Canyon Stake which adjoins the Draper Utah South Mountain Stake where the site is located. He added that it is an active area of the Church, and he believes members in the area through their faithfulness will justify the placement of a temple in their midst.
The city of Draper has roots going back to the Mormon pioneer era of the 1840s and, until recently, it has retained its character as a rural farming community. It was originally settled in 1849 by Ebenezer Brown, a Mormon Battalion veteran, and two of his sons. Other settlers joined them in 1851, including William Draper, for whom the city was named and who served as presiding elder of the first branch there.
Draper belonged to the Salt Lake Stake until 1900, when it became part of the Jordan Stake and, after a division in 1927, part of the East Jordan Stake. In 1942, the Mount Jordan Stake was formed, enclosing all of Draper and the adjacent agricultural communities of Crescent and Granite. That stake was divided in 1973, and today those former boundaries comprise numerous stakes in Draper and what is now portions of South Jordan and Sandy.
E-mail: rscott@desnews.com
