Mormon Church Groundbreaking

Saturday the Church of Latter-day Saints held a successful ground-breaking ceremony for its Vine Street Temple.  Construction is expected to be completed some time in 2014, says Corinne Dougherty, director of public affairs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Philadelphia region.

There are both churches and temples in the Latter-day Saints faith, which is also known as the Mormon faith.  temples are more sacred, and there are only about 130 of them in the nation.  The Philadelphia Temple District, which includes Pennsylvania From Williamsport to Harrisburg Philadelphia and its suburbs, Delaware, Southern New Jersey, and part of Maryland, has about 32,000 members.  While Pennsylvania has been the site of much church history, the Philadelphia temple will be the first in the state. The two closest are currently in New York and Washington.

The Temple will be just under 70,000 square feet.  Its spires will reach no higher than 209 feet – a height which required a change in zoning.  Architect Perkins + Will, which has offices in Philadelphia and New York, created the design, which the church has kept under wraps.  Last spring, the church acquired a 90,000-square-foot parcel at 16th and Vive, across the street from the temple property at 17th and Vine.  It plans to build a mixed-use commercial development on what is now an open-air parking lot.