President Gordon B. Hinckley and other leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will break ground and dedicate the site for the church's Draper Temple Saturday.

President Hinckley will be joined by his first counselor, President Thomas S. Monson, and second counselor, President James E. Faust. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the church's Quorum of the Twelve, will conduct the invitation-only ceremony.

Groundbreaking will begin at 10 a.m. Proceedings will be broadcast on the church's satellite system to nearby stake centers.

President Hinckley announced construction of the new South Valley temple in the church's October 2004 General Conference. He said the building was needed to relieve overcrowding at the Jordan River Temple, located at 10200 S. 1300 West.

The Draper temple will sit on 12 acres at 2000 East and 14000 South. The 57,000-square-foot temple will be 166 feet high from the main level to the top of the structure's spire, which will include the symbolic Angel Moroni statue that sits atop many LDS temples. Draper's planning commission approved the plans in May.

An artist's rendering of the temple by FFKR architects shows white walls that rise in a stair-step fashion. The plan calls for numerous varieties of trees to surround the temple and line the 492 parking spots.

The lot, in Draper's Corner Canyon, includes an LDS meetinghouse that was completed last year. The temple will also tower over 1,000 acres of open space in the canyon that the city approved in fall 2005.

The Draper Temple will be the third in Salt Lake Valley, along with the Jordan River and Salt Lake temples.

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