2 new Utah temples: Sites are S. Jordan, southwest S.L. Valley

SOUTH JORDAN — The phones began ringing just after 10 a.m. Soon after, people began wandering into an information center for the 4,200-acre Daybreak development, located in South Jordan.

News that a new LDS temple will be built here spread fast.

During the opening session of the 175th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced in the first few minutes that two new temples will be built in the Salt Lake Valley — one in the west (Daybreak); the other in the southwest.

The exact site for the temple at Daybreak was not announced, but South Jordan Mayor Kent Money said the temple would be located on a bluff that is west of the Bangerter Highway and north of the Daybreak entrance at 11400 South.

"There's a knoll there, and (the temple) will be right there," he said. "It will be very visible from the entire area. It's in a great location."

No specific location was announced for the planned southwest temple.

"Temple service is the end product of all our teaching and activity," said President Hinckley, in announcing the new temples. "You may ask why we favor Utah so generously. It is because the degree of activity requires it."

The church has 122 operating temples in 37 countries. The newly announced temples will be the fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Salt Lake Valley. The temple at Daybreak is the second in South Jordan, already home to the Jordan River Temple, dedicated in 1981.

Reaction to the announcement of new temples was mostly positive. A new temple typically means an increase in property values. It attracts family-oriented people, residents and community leaders say.

After the LDS Church announced last October that a new temple would be built in Draper, property values around the site — 2000 E. 14000 South — more than doubled. A similar rise in value happened in 1995 when a new LDS temple was announced in Bountiful.

"People, as soon as the LDS Church announced they would build a temple, clamored to get lots," said Tom Hardy, Bountiful city manager. "The prices went up significantly."

Tyler Thompson and his wife, Rebecca, live within the Daybreak community. After hearing President Hinckley's announcement, they came to an information center within Daybreak to see where the temple would be built.

"It's always been a big, big deal to have a temple in the neighborhood," said Thompson. "I'm thrilled."