The Fort Collins Mormon Temple
May 27, 2011
Filed under Fort Collins Colorado Mormon Temple
Denver, Colorado Temple
On April 2, 2011, at the semiannual worldwide General Conference of the Mormon church, or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Thomas S. Monson announced Fort Collins as the location of a new Mormon temple. Church leadership has indicated the temple will be roughly 24,000 to 28,000 square feet and will have a design comparable to the Newport Beach California Temple.
On July 8, 2011, the location for the future temple was announced as the southeast corner of the intersection at Trilby Road and Timberline Road. A large LDS chapel is across the street from this location.
President Russell McClure of the Fort Collins Colorado Stake said, “We appreciate the many people from Fort Collins who have worked with us during the site selection process. We feel this new temple will be a great asset not only to members of the Church in Colorado and the region but also to the people of Fort Collins, who will benefit from the peace and beauty a temple brings.”
Construction of the Fort Collins Temple is set to begin in the next few months and should be completed within two years.
The first Mormon congregation in Colorado was organized in Manassa in February 1883. Now the state is home to approximately 140,000 Mormons who live and work and practice their faith there. The Fort Collins Temple, which will be the second Mormon Temple in the state (the Denver Temple has been operating since 1986), will serve members in northern Colorado, southern Wyoming and western Nebraska who currently travel to Denver and Billings, Montana to enjoy temple worship.
Updates
In November 2011 the planning commission in Fort Collins recommended that the land be annexed and rezoned for the construction of the temple. Objections included that the area contains a subdivision with a fire station, day-care center, church, farmland and a nature preserve. If the city council approves the annexation and rezoning, the Church would submit a development plan. City planners then would address residents’ concerns over things like traffic and wildlife impacts.
In mid-November 2011 the land was annexed by the city. All that remains is a final vote for rezoning and then the Church will be able to submit its detailed plans for the temple and its surrounding gardens and parking.
The first Colorado Mormon congregation was formed in Manassa in 1883:
Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia
Volume 1
Biographies
Crowther, James F.
Dalton, John C., Bishop of Manassa, San Luis Stake, Colorado, was born at Parowan, Iron
county, Utah, Jan. 9, 1857. He grew to manhood on the farm and ranch, and received a limited
education in the district school. May 1, 1876, he married Hannah D., daughter of Jesse N. and
Emma Smith. In December, 1878, he was called to accompany Pres. Silas S. Smith on an
exploring mission through Arizona and northern New Mexico. He started on this mission the
following April, returning in September. Soon after his return home, he was chosen a counselor in
the Y. M. M. I. A. of the Ward. The year following he was called into the Stake presidency of
the Y. M. M. I. A., laboring in that position until May, 1882. In February, 1882, he was directed
by Apostle Erastus Snow to again accompany Pres. Silas S. Smith to the small colony of Saints
in Colorado. May 17th he bade farewell to his relatives and friends, and, leaving the home of his
childhood, started on a life’s mission. On the 22nd of the following month he, with his traveling
companion, A. F. McGregor, arrived in San Luis valley, where the Colorado Saints had
established three small settlements. In October he was joined by his wife, and they together
labored to build a home and fill the mission to which they had been called. He was ordained a
Bishop by Apostles Brigham Young and Heber J. Grant and Pres. Silas S. Smith, and set apart
to preside over the Manassa Ward in February, 1883, with Silas S. Smith, junior, and Samuel
Sellers as his counselors. Some time afterward, Bro. Sellers moved away and [p.553] Martin
Christensen took his place in the Bishopric. Side by side they have labored to build up the Ward.
Bishop Dalton has represented the people in various State and county positions, and has always
been zealous and energetic in the discharge of every duty enjoined upon him.
Mark Tingey, representative of the L.D.S. Church, has indicated recently that the temple will be 24,000 to 28,000 feet, and the initial 17,000 feet announcement was incorrect.
Thank you, John.