1 week ago
Sunday, October 23, 2016
After driving through a torrential rain storm for 45 minutes we emerged from the rain just as we arrived at the Louisville Kentucky Temple.
Announcement: 17 March 1999
Groundbreaking and Site Dedication: 29 May 1999 by John K. Carmack
Public Open House: 4–11 March 2000
Dedication: 19 March 2000 by Thomas S. Monson
Site: 3 acres (including adjacent meetinghouse).
Exterior Finish: Imperial Danby White marble quarried in Vermont.
Ordinance Rooms: Two ordinance rooms (two-stage progressive) and two sealing.
Total Floor Area: 10,700 square feet.
Groundbreaking Ceremony
Elder John K. Carmack of the Seventy and president of the North America East Area who presided over the groundbreaking services for the Louisville Kentucky Temple, spoke on the importance of temples in the life of the eternal family. Joseph Smith was intensely interested in the work of temples in the later years of his life, he noted. Having built the Kirtland Temple, laid the groundwork for two temples in Missouri, and nearly completed the Nauvoo Temple, the Prophet was "preoccupied" with temples and seeing that the Quorum of the Twelve had received the ordinances. Elder Carmack pointed out that "the way we live here has consequences in the next life." He then quoted Hugh Nibley in saying that ordinances create order from chaos, and that like an observatory, the temple helps one get a bearing on the universe (Church News, 5 June 1999).
