One year before the Salt Lake Temple reopens, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is unveiling a refreshed, immersive experience on Temple Square. Media were given a first look at the newly renovated Temple Square Visitors’ Center and learned when reservations for the Salt Lake Temple open house will become available.
The Visitors’ Center opens to the public May 18, 2026, and will be welcome daily from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. “This visitors’ center sits in the shadow of the Salt Lake City Temple,” said President Emily Belle Freeman of the Young Women General Presidency. “Now you may think you have been to a visitors center experience with us before, and I am going to tell you this is not that.” Church leaders called the unveiling a milestone and described the new center as unprecedented.
More than 39,000 square feet of thoughtfully designed space invite guests to explore how temple teachings connect to everyday life, family, and devotion to Christ. A replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen’s beloved Christus stands in the west wing, while the lower level’s focal point is a new marble sculpture by Swiss artist Christian Bolt titled “Come Unto Me,” depicting the Savior extending an invitation of peace and compassion. “They didn’t want to have another standing Christ, but a sitting one…towards humankind,” Bolt said of the work. Outside, bronze statues in the landscaped gardens depict Jesus carrying the cross and Christ in Gethsemane, flanking the east and west wings.
Inside, immersive, accessible experiences guide visitors from Brigham Young’s 1847 declaration—“Here we will build a temple to our God”—through a clear, welcoming narrative about Latter-day Saint belief and practice. Highlights include full-scale replicas of sacred temple rooms (not replicas of rooms in the Salt Lake Temple), a scale model of the Salt Lake Temple, a display of 11 built-to-scale miniature temples with a nearby temple globe, and a surprise moment where a video wall opens to reveal a replica temple lobby with baptistry, instruction rooms, a celestial room, and sealing rooms.
A 30-minute “Inside a Temple” tour requires a timed reservation; entrance to the Visitors’ Center is free. Reservations can be made through the Temple Square app or online. Free parking is available at the Conference Center with validation; City Creek parking south of Temple Square offers the first two hours free. The Temple Square TRAX station provides direct access to the center.
Looking ahead, the Salt Lake Temple open house celebration is scheduled April 5–October 1, 2027. Reservations for the temple open house will be available starting September 1, 2026. “It came about much better than we ever thought,” said Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “We’re very proud that it’s on time, on budget, and that it looks good, and we are looking forward to a wonderful celebration online and in person. We can only say thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has accomplished this process.”
Temple Square leaders say this marks the beginning of a significant year. “It really is one of the most exciting points in this period in the history of the Church,” said Elder Matthew S. Holland of the General Authority Seventy. The new Visitors’ Center and the upcoming open house promise to offer both longtime visitors and newcomers an inviting, contemplative, and deeply human encounter with the temple’s meaning.