SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially opened its newly renovated Temple Square Visitors’ Center to the public on Monday, marking a major milestone in the ongoing overhaul of the historic downtown plaza.
The center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and requires no general admission tickets. Visitors can explore self-guided exhibits, including a replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen’s “Christus” statue, a detailed temple model room and newly designed outdoor gardens featuring two statues depicting Jesus Christ.
While most of the accessibility-friendly facility is open for walk-ins, a 30-minute guided “Inside a Temple” tour requires an advance reservation. Church officials say additional tickets for this specific lower-level experience will be released every other Monday beginning June 1. Exhibits are currently available in English, French, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish, with American Sign Language coming soon.
The opening comes as construction crews make significant headway on the adjacent Salt Lake Temple. A new copper roof has been fully installed, which will naturally darken to a brown hue over the next year before eventually developing a green patina.
Workers are also laying exterior stone paving to define walkways and accommodate future visitor flow. Inside the sacred structure, crews are installing celestial room chandeliers, completing parquet wood flooring in the entrance buildings and finishing the new sealing wing.
The phased reopening of Temple Square is building toward the highly anticipated Salt Lake Temple Celebration, scheduled from April 5 to Oct. 1, 2027. Public open house tours for the historic temple will precede the event, with reservations opening to the public on Sept. 1.