Salt Lake City — One year before the Salt Lake Temple reopens to the public, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offered media a first look at its newly renovated Temple Square Visitors’ Center and announced key dates for the temple open house.
The expanded visitors’ center opens to the public May 18, 2026, and will be open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. It occupies nearly 40,000 square feet at the foot of the Salt Lake Temple and is designed to invite reflection on how temple teachings connect to everyday life and faith in Christ.
“This visitors’ center sits in the shadow of the Salt Lake City Temple,” said President Emily Belle Freeman of the Young Women General Presidency. “You may think you have been to a visitors’ center experience with us before — this is not that.” Church leaders called the unveiling a milestone and described the center as unprecedented.
Highlights include a replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen’s beloved “Christus” in the west wing and a new marble sculpture by Swiss artist Christian Bolt titled “Come Unto Me” at the lower-level center point. “They didn’t want another standing Christ, but a sitting one, oriented toward humankind,” Bolt said. Bronze statues in landscaped gardens — including depictions of Christ carrying the cross and Christ in Gethsemane — flank the east and west wings.
Immersive experiences guide guests through Church history and temple meaning: a video wall that opens into a replica of a temple lobby, full-scale replica sacred rooms (not replicas of rooms in the Salt Lake Temple), a baptistry, instruction rooms, a celestial room and sealing rooms. The center also features a scale model of the Salt Lake Temple, 11 built-to-scale miniature temples and an interpretive temple globe, presented in a way anyone can understand.
Tickets to the visitors’ center are free. While no ticket is required for general entry, a reservation time is required for the 30-minute “Inside a Temple” tour; reservations may be made through the Temple Square app or online. Free parking is available at the Conference Center with validation, and City Creek parking (south of Temple Square) offers the first two hours free. The Temple Square TRAX station provides direct access.
The Salt Lake Temple open house celebration is scheduled April 5, 2027, through October 1, 2027. Reservations for the temple open house will be available starting September 1, 2026.
“Everything has come together much better than we ever thought. It is on time, on budget, and it looks good,” said Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “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.” Elder Matthew S. Holland of the General Authority Seventy called the reopening period “one of the most exciting points in this period in the history of the Church.”
For reservations and more information, visitors can download the Temple Square app or visit the Temple Square website.