DRAPER — "High on the Mountain Top" was an apt choice the opening song Saturday for the groundbreaking and site dedication of the Draper Temple: LDS Church leaders, city officials and residents sat thousands of feet high on the Corner Canyon site, looking over the Salt Lake Valley.

"You couldn't have asked for a better location," Draper Mayor Darrell Smith said after plunging a shovel into the ground with his City Council members. "I don't think it's any coincidence that we happened to preserve 1,025 acres here."

The medium-size facility will sit on 12 acres at 1911 E. Gray Fox Drive (approximately 14000 South). It will tower above the 1,025 acres of open space in the canyon, habitat for deer, elk and other wildlife.

"This is a really remarkable time as we break ground for the 12th temple to be built in Utah, the third in this valley," said President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "We're frequently asked, 'Why so many temples in Utah?' It is because we need them."

Joining President Hinckley in the groundbreaking were his first counselor, President Thomas S. Monson, and his second counselor, President James E. Faust, of the First Presidency.

President Hinckley announced construction of the new south valley temple in 2004, saying it was needed to relieve overcrowding at the Jordan River Temple. Two other temples are planned for the Salt Lake Valley, one in South Jordan's Daybreak community and another in an unannounced location on the west side.

"If people continue to move here, it may be necessary to build another or two. But this may not be for some time; don't count on it tomorrow," the jovial President Hinckley said to a laughing crowd.

Construction of the 57,000-square-foot temple will begin within the month. Smith said the building should be completed in 18 months to two years. It will become the church's 12th temple in Utah.

Draper residents in attendance at the invitation-only groundbreaking were excited about the new temple. Some who live on lots surrounding the site on Draper's South Mountain bought property in the area just so they could live by the edifice.

"Looking back, years ago, there was not much around the area," said Rodolfo Franco, stake president for the South Mountain Stake. "The growth has been a blessing for all of us."

Cousins Alexa Tall, 11, and Tycee Macgillivray, 9, attended the groundbreaking with family members who live next door to the temple property. Both girls excitedly dug into the ground with their bare hands, filling up water bottles to save the dirt.

"We thought we could keep memories of being here on this day," said Tall, who plans to put the dirt in a scrapbook.

A choir, made up of members from eight stakes in the area, sang at the ceremony. Christoffer Hansen, a member of the Hidden Valley Stake, was elated to sing in the choir and was looking forward to someday going inside the Draper Temple.

"Oh my goodness, I can't wait. It's just so exciting," Hansen said. "I think this temple is going to be a really neat one in this pretty spot."

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