Manhattan New York Temple to Close for Renovations

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced that the Manhattan New York Temple will close in 2024 for extensive renovations.

In addition, the locations of three temples to be built in the Americas were released: the La Paz Bolivia Temple, the Natal Brazil Temple, the Teresina Brazil Temple, and the San Jose California Temple.

Manhattan New York Temple Renovation Announcement

Renovations to the Manhattan New York Temple are expected to begin in 2024 and be completed in approximately three years. The meetinghouse on the third floor of the temple will also be upgraded. Local congregations will be relocated to other meetinghouse spaces in the area during the renovation period.

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A rendering of the updated Manhattan New York Temple has also been released.

During the temple’s renovation, Latter-day Saints in the Manhattan New York Temple district are encouraged to attend the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple or the Hartford Connecticut Temple.

Dates for the public open house and dedication following the renovation will be announced closer to the completion date.

The Manhattan Temple was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley in June 2004 and is the 119th dedicated temple in operation. It is the second temple built in the state of New York, following the Palmyra New York Temple in April 2000.

Much of the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints occurred in New York. In 1820, Joseph Smith received his First Vision just outside Palmyra. The Church of Jesus Christ was organized in Fayette, New York, on April 6, 1830. In the mid-1800s, many converts to the Church from Europe passed through New York Harbor on their way to join the Latter-day Saints out west. Today, the state of New York is home to more than 84,000 Latter-day Saints in over 140 congregations.

La Paz Bolivia Temple Site Announcement

The La Paz Bolivia Temple will be built on a 3.8-acre site located near Avenida Los Sauces and Calle 8 de Calacoto in Calacoto, La Paz, Bolivia. Plans call for a temple of approximately 18,850 square feet. This will be the third temple in Bolivia.

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The La Paz Bolivia Temple was first announced by Church President Russell M. Nelson in October 2021. The first temple constructed in the country was the Cochabamba Bolivia Temple, which was dedicated in April 2000 by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley. There are also plans to build a temple in the city of Santa Cruz.

More than 220,000 Latter-day Saints live in Bolivia, a landlocked country in central South America. Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ arrived in Bolivia in 1964.

Natal Brazil Temple Site Announcement

The Natal Brazil Temple will be built on a 5.53-acre site located at Av. Senador Salgado Filho (BR-101), Nova Parnamirim, Parnamirim, Rio Grande do Norte. Plans call for a single-story temple of approximately 19,800 square feet. This will be the first temple in Rio Grande do Norte, a state on Brazil’s easternmost Atlantic coast.

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Teresina Brazil Temple Site Announcement

The Teresina Brazil Temple will be built on a 3.60-acre site located at Av. Cajuína and Rua Pedro Conde, Noivos, Teresina, Piauí. Plans call for a temple of approximately 25,420 square feet. This will be the first temple in the northeastern state of Piauí.

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The Natal Brazil Temple and the Teresina Brazil Temple were both announced earlier this year during the April 2023 general conference. There are 10 operating temples in Brazil in the cities of São Paulo, Campinas, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Recife, Manaus, Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro, Belém and Brasília. The Brasília Brazil Temple is currently open for public tours. Besides today’s annnounced sites of temples in Natal and Teresina, there are eight additional temples planned or under construction in Brazil. They are located in Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Londrina, Maceió, Ribeirao Preto, Santos, Vitoria, and a second in greater São Paulo.

Nearly 1.5 million Latter-day Saints, spread throughout more than 2,100 congregations, call Brazil home. Missionary work began in Brazil in 1928.

San Jose California Temple Site Announcement

This temple will be built on a 4.73-acre site at 771 West Fremont Avenue, Sunnyvale, California. Plans call for a single-story temple of approximately 30,000 square feet and an accompanying distribution center.

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California is home to 12 houses of the Lord. Temples were announced for Bakersfield and San Jose by Church President Russell M. Nelson in the April 2023 general conference. The location of the Bakersfield California Temple was also recently announced. Other temples in use or under construction in the state include the Fresno, Los Angeles, Modesto, Newport Beach, Oakland, Redlands, Sacramento, San Diego and Yorba Linda California Temples. The Feather River California Temple will be dedicated on October 8, 2023, by Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The first Latter-day Saint immigrants arrived in San Francisco in 1846. Six Latter-day Saints were at Sutter's Mill in January 1848, when gold was discovered. The land boom of the 1920s also attracted many members to California. Today, there are nearly 730,000 Latter-day Saints in more than 1,130 congregations in the state.

Latter-day Saints consider temples to be houses of the Lord and the most sacred places of worship on earth. Temples differ from the Church’s meetinghouses (chapels). All are welcome to attend Sunday worship services and other weekday activities at local meetinghouses. The primary purpose of temples is for faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ to participate in sacred ceremonies, such as marriages, which unite families forever, and proxy baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors who did not have the opportunity to be baptized while living.