Denver Colorado Temple

Overview

The Denver Colorado Temple is located south of Denver in a beautiful residential neighborhood in the suburb of Centennial. Notable features of the striking white temple and its grounds are thousands of colorful flowers in the growing season, a calming water feature bordered by benches, a wall of colorful stained glass above the temple entrance, and a gold-leafed statue of the angel Moroni atop the heaven-reaching spire. A Distribution Services Center is located next to the temple.

Temple History

The Denver Colorado Temple was the first temple built in Colorado. Historical records indicate that in 1858, the S. M. Rooker family—a member family from Utah—was the first to settle at the site that later became Denver. In an act of hope and faith, one Denver-area stake started a temple fund years before the Denver Colorado Temple was announced, gathering enough donations to meet its assessment for the construction of the temple far ahead of time.

In addition to Colorado, the Denver Colorado Temple District originally covered portions of several western and midwestern states including Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.

At a centennial celebration of the Church in Colorado, held September 13, 1997, President Gordon B. Hinckley was presented a pair of Colorado blue spruce trees. He, in turn, presented the trees to Denver Colorado Temple President Russell C. Taylor to plant on the temple grounds. "If you want to call them the Hinckley trees, it's all right with me," he said.

2011 Temple Renovation

The Denver Colorado Temple closed on August 15, 2011, for a six-week renovation project, which included modernization of the heating and air conditioning systems, roof work, new carpet, conversion of a sealing room into a sealing office, and conversion of the dining room and kitchen into a nonpatron waiting room and temple worker break room.

Temple District

Central Colorado

Western Kansas

Garden City Kansas Stake

Presidents

Notable presidents of the temple include:

Access

Temple access is available to church members who hold a current temple recommend, as is the case with all operating Latter-day Saints temples. An adjacent visitors center is open to the public. An LDS Church meetinghouse is across the street on the East, which is also open to the public.

References