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Built:
2002- 2004
Designed by: Frank Fernandez
Type: Holy Place
Stories: 6
Maximum height: 120 feet / 37 meters
Location: 125 Columbus Avenue
City: New York
State: New York
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early two hundred years after the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the group opened its first temple in the heart of a city known as a den of iniquity: New York City. Unlike other Mormon temples, which are known for their attractive exterior architecture, this one resides within a meeting house built for the church in 1975. That building is unremarkable by most standards, with rows of minimal vertical setbacks, and very few windows. But the building, like most religions, beckons people to look for the beauty within. In this case, the beauty carved out of the first, fifth, and sixth floors which have become the temple.
Much of the interior is decorated in soothing shades of white, illuminated by white spotlights and lamps, and offset by black accents in the furniture. It is an immediately calming space, and the sound-proof walls create a welcome sanctuary from the cacophonous lifestyle that is Manhattan.
Perhaps the most impressive room is the Endowment Room. Since the Manhattan temple has no church grounds, a pastoral scene of mountains, trees, valleys and rivers, is painted on the walls and ceiling of this room to evoke a sense of the outdoors. Wooden support beams are exposed, rather than hidden, to give a sense of trees and nature that you can touch.
In a way, the founding of this temple is something of a homecoming for the Mormons. The church was founded in 1830 in upstate New York before being forced west. The opening of this temple, therefore, reflects many important religious themes: redemption, forgiveness, and hope.
> Before this temple opened, New York Mormons had to go all the way to Boston, or Washington, D.C. for certain ceremonies.
> The baptismal font rests on the back of 12 life-sized oxen statues representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
> The door handles were designed to resemble the Statue of Liberty's torch, to give the building a little local flavor.
> 8 May, 2004 - In a gesture of goodwill to a curious community, the temple is opened to the public for a month. 56,000 people take the tour of a space that will be off-limits to non-believers and church members who have not attained a special status once it officially opens.
> 13 June, 2004 - The temple officially opens.
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