Closing 84-85 LDS Churches in the Utah, yet building large housing developments in Colorado?

Before I post a photo of this year’s Fall Equinox (since I’ve received some criticism for only posting photos from hikes), I thought I would share two interesting recent developments about the LDS Church.

In a recent City Council meeting held on August 18, 2026, in Heber City, Utah, Steve Waldrip from the Utah Governor’s Office and Tony Kohler, Community Development Director, presented Utah housing plans and legislation. It was announced in this meeting that the LDS Church plans to close 84 to 85 of its chapels in Utah.

Here’s the link, with the timestamp around 1 hour and 43 minutes:

https://hebercityut.portal.civicclerk.com/event/535/media

"At the (Utah) state level, we haven't been very focused on this and we're seeing the impacts of that. And again, I'm more familiar with sort of the Wasatch front impacts right now, where you have school closures happening at a massive scale. The LDS Church is closing 84, 85, meeting houses on the east side of the Salt Lake Valley. 
No. At once, in a very short period of time." 

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and then there is this:

Mormon Church Expands Its Real Estate Empire With 1,000-Acre Development Near Denver

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), through its real estate investment arm Property Reserve Inc. (PRI), is developing a large master-planned residential community called Tributary in Aurora, Colorado.

LINK TO TRIBUTARY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

www.realtor.com/news/trends/mormon-church-master-planned-community-denver-colorado-real-estate-portfolio/

LINK TO DENVER POST

Up to about 4,859 housing units, including single-family homes (roughly 435 acres designated for this) and multifamily/rental units (about 58 acres). Once fully built out, it is expected to house more than 12,000 residents. Plans include commercial and retail areas (including a King Soopers-anchored retail center), multiple parks and open spaces, trails, a recreation center, a school, a fire station, and mixed-use commercial spaces. Water service is planned to come from the City of Aurora. ------

Go figure: From closing down churchs to building up real estate developments

BIG REVEALS OF THE NEW SALT LAKE TEMPLE

Today, September 1, 2026, the Church held a special media event in the new west entrance building on Temple Square where President Dieter F. Uchtdorf announced the official theme for the upcoming Salt Lake Temple Celebration. Governor Spencer Cox was the first speaker at this event. Reservations are now available to attend the open house next year which begins on April 5 through October 1, 2027. 

When the renovation was announced on April 19, 2019, the Church stated that the Salt Lake Temple would close on December 29, 2019, and remain closed for approximately four years, with an expected reopening in 2024. The project began primarily as an earthquake-proofing effort. Ordinance workers were told that the live endowment sessions would continue after the renovation.

However, since then, everything has changed. It is no longer the Salt Lake Temple I remember. The project is now more than three years behind its original schedule.

The floor plan has been heavily rearranged. The grand staircase connecting the first and second floors has been removed. The original progressive rooms and their hand-painted murals were removed or heavily reconfigured. The original baptismal font has been relocated from within the Salt Lake Temple foundation to the new north addition outside the historic temple structure. The live, room-to-room progressive endowment has been discontinued and replaced by stationary single-room film presentations.

Patrons no longer move from room to room during the endowment—Creation Room → Garden Room → World Room → Terrestrial Room → through the veil into the Celestial Room. Many of the 22 sealing rooms are now located underground in the north addition (especially on lower level 2, alongside the baptistries), rather than in the highest areas of the historic structure.

The original floor plan of the Salt Lake Temple reinforced the idea of ascending “higher and higher” toward the most sacred spaces. That architectural journey—a key part of the temple’s symbolism of returning to God’s presence—has been removed.

Many historians, architectural preservationists, and longtime members view these losses as significant. The progressive ascending floor plan, the hand-painted murals in the Creation, Garden, and World rooms, the grand staircase, and the architectural expression of spiritual ascent were unique features of one of the Church’s most iconic pioneer-era temples. Critics have described the removal of these elements as a major cultural and historical loss, noting that once they are gone, they cannot be fully recovered.

The Salt Lake Temple was designed with clear progressive, ascending symbolism. That carefully crafted architectural journey is no longer part of the experience.

Here are some photos of the scaled down model of the new Salt Lake Temple and the underground sealing rooms, baptism font and initiatory rooms.