Gilbert Arizona Temple

On Tuesday, December 2, 2008, the Gilbert Town Council granted its approval of a Major General Plan Amendment that will allow commercial development on approximately 98 acres south of Pecos Road between Mercy Road and Greenfield Road, just east of the Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. The amendment designates 49 acres of general office, 28 acres of business park, 4 acres of community commercial (an existing Swim Kids USA facility), 5 acres of public facility or institution, and 12 acres of community commercial on the corner of Pecos and Greenfield—an intersection shared by Discovery Park, Eagle's Aerie School, and the intended site of the Gilbert Arizona Temple. This intersection generated the bulk of public comment, which included cautions from Gilbert residents that Gilbert has too much retail space and that commercial development may not be compatible with surrounding uses, particularly the temple.¹

Paul Gilbert of Beus Gilbert PLLC, the Scottsdale law firm that is coordinating the temple project, notes that some of the land uses in the amendment may not be compatible with the temple's sacred use. The project coordinators would like to see businesses come to the area that complement the temple and a surrounding custom-home development, tentatively named Greenfield Farms, which has entered preliminary discussions. "We would like to see residential," says Mr. Gilbert. "A quality office would probably be acceptable." The temple project will also go before the Gilbert Planning Commission, but an exact date has not been finalized.²

Gregory B. Lambright of Architekton, an architectural firm located in Tempe, is the architect selected for the temple, which is expected to be similar in design to the Twin Falls Idaho Temple.³ The 10-acre temple site is located near the Loop 202 on the southeast corner of Greenfield Road and Pecos Road.⁴ Unsightly power lines surround the property, which Church officials desire to have removed, but doing so would come at a considerable cost.⁵

Don Evans, spokesman for the church in Arizona, says the April 2008 announcement of temples to be built in Gilbert and in the Gila Valley came in response to demands currently placed on the state's two operating temples in Mesa and in Snowflake. In recent years, the Church has built temples on a smaller scale. Evans notes that the Mesa temple is more than six times the size of the temple in Snowflake.⁶

This two-temple announcement for Arizona was the first temple announcement made by President Thomas S. Monson since he became president of the Church in February 2008. "It is my personal priority to make sure members of the Church have access to the blessings of the temple," said President Monson. "It is here where members learn of their divine origin and destiny; where they are strengthened spiritually as individuals and as families. Temples are sanctuaries from the storms of life."⁷

Located in the fast-growing Southeast Valley of the Phoenix metropolitan area—just south of Mesa—Gilbert and its surrounding communities enjoy a high concentration of Church members, who currently attend the Mesa Arizona Temple, which serves currently serves 74 stakes throughout much of Arizona. The edifice will make the sacred ordinances of the temple more accessible to the members of these communities.