CASPER, Wyo. — Groundbreaking on the new temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in west Casper will be October 9, the church announced Friday.
The Casper Temple will be approximately 10,000 square feet and built on a 9.5-acre site located at the intersection of Wyoming Boulevard Southwest and Eagle Drive.
In April, LDS President Russell M. Nelson announced that Casper would be one of 20 locations — including Europe, Africa, Central and South America, Oregon, Colorado, and Montana — where new temples would be built.
Elder S. Gifford Nielsen of the Seventy will preside at the event, LDS said. Attendance at the groundbreaking will be by invitation only.
According to the Church, a free public open house is held after each temple is built or renovated. During that time, people of all ages and faiths are welcome to enter and tour the temple.
The Church further explains the distinction between temples and regular meeting houses. Meeting houses or chapels are used for Sabbath day worship services and weekday activities, which are open to the general public and visitors to observe or respectfully participate.
Temples are not open on the Sabbath and are dedicated to sacred ceremonies and education. Once dedicated, attendance is reserved for members of the Church.
The Star Valley Wyoming Temple in Afton was dedicated in 2016.
However, Casper holds some significance in the Church’s history.
Fleeing political violence in Illinois, some 70,000 Mormons passed through Casper on the way to Utah’s Salt Lake Valley on the 1,300-mile Mormon Trail from 1846 to 1869.
