Mormon temple in Phoenix now started

PHOENIX — More than three years after it was initially announced, the LDS Church's Phoenix Arizona Temple is now officially a construction project.

Leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined with local community officials Saturday to break ground for the Phoenix temple.

Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy presided at the ceremony. Also attending Saturday's small, ticketed event were Elders William R. Walker, Michael D. Pickerd and Jim L. Wright of the church's Quorums of the Seventy and Ann M. Dibb, second counselor in the Young Women general presidency.

Elder Walker serves as executive director of the LDS Church's Temple Department.

Local civic leaders attending included Ken Bennett, Arizona's secretary of state; Steve Court, state majority leader; and Thelda Williams, Phoenix vice mayor.

The groundbreaking was broadcast to LDS meetinghouses throughout the temple district.

The Phoenix Arizona Temple was announced by LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson in May 2008.

When original plans and designs for the Mormon temple were announced and city approvals were being sought the following year, a neighborhood group aired concerns about parking, traffic, lighting, building size and tower height.

The church submitted a redesign in 2010, but neighbors continued to balk at any progress toward construction, threatening protests and legal appeals.

Late last month, church officials met with representatives of the neighborhood coalition and together signed a memorandum of understanding in a spirit of compromise.

Highlights of the agreement include:

Creating a steering committee to revisit traffic, parking and other issues.

Limiting the temple's open-house period to 30 days, not including the dedication services, and using a reservation/ticket system for the open house and dedication.

Turning off all lights projecting above the 30-foot roofline at 10:15 p.m., with parking lot lights to remain on to aid late-night temple patrons.

Reducing the temple spire's height an additional foot (now 10 feet lower than the original design) with the spire narrower and less bulky than the original design.