Public Project
LDS Temple Construction in Wyoming
Summary
After a legal battle, in the Fall of 2024 the LDS church began building a temple in a rural residential area of Cody Wyoming. The local residents are ardently opposed to this construction citing building code violations, and alleging corruption. In spite of an appeal that is currently before the Wyoming Supreme Court, construction is well underway. The neighbors are aghast, but local LDS people are excited and eager to perform their temple rituals.
In March 2023 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints announced they would be building a 9950 sqft temple in a rural neighborhood in Cody, Wyoming.
The plot of land is situated at the end of residential street, a suburb of the small town of 10,000. Driving down the Skyline Drive the homes become larger, the yards more manicured until one arrives at Olive Glenn, where a collection of large stately homes with picture windows gaze out at the junction of Cedar and Rattlesnake mountains, beyond which lies Yellowstone Park. Most of the yards are punctuated with signs reading “Relocate the Temple.”
A group called “Preserve Our Cody Neighborhoods” has been fighting the construction of the temple from the time the location was announced. The group says the location is unlawful, inappropriate for the area and violates city zoning and building codes. One of the complaints is against the 101 foot gold pyramidal spire that will be constructed of a white concrete-like material and will likely be illuminated at night.
Cody is one of many cities where groups are ardently opposing the construction of LDS temples, like Fairview, Texas, Heber City, Utah, Las Vegas, Nevada to name a few.
The LDS church was granted a building permit in August 2024, and the POCN filed an appeal to be heard by the Wyoming Supreme Court. Despite the pending appeal construction commenced in September 2024. The case was brought to the supreme court of Wyoming in February 2025, and is currently being deliberated. It’s possible the court could demand the temple be dismantled.
To the passerby the construction site is vast, covering several acres of what was once a pristine sage brush plain, home to migrating ungulates, foxes and birds. Now the skeleton of what will be the towering spire is seen jutting upwards from a wedding cake shaped building - think Brutalist architecture meets Neuschwanstein. Trucks, pallets of building materials and workers in yellow fluorescent vests can be seen scurrying around, installing window frames, digging trenches for the future sewer, and as one resident observed, endlessly driving backwards in beeping trucks.
Eleven percent of Cody’s residents are LDS.
The plot of land is situated at the end of residential street, a suburb of the small town of 10,000. Driving down the Skyline Drive the homes become larger, the yards more manicured until one arrives at Olive Glenn, where a collection of large stately homes with picture windows gaze out at the junction of Cedar and Rattlesnake mountains, beyond which lies Yellowstone Park. Most of the yards are punctuated with signs reading “Relocate the Temple.”
A group called “Preserve Our Cody Neighborhoods” has been fighting the construction of the temple from the time the location was announced. The group says the location is unlawful, inappropriate for the area and violates city zoning and building codes. One of the complaints is against the 101 foot gold pyramidal spire that will be constructed of a white concrete-like material and will likely be illuminated at night.
Cody is one of many cities where groups are ardently opposing the construction of LDS temples, like Fairview, Texas, Heber City, Utah, Las Vegas, Nevada to name a few.
The LDS church was granted a building permit in August 2024, and the POCN filed an appeal to be heard by the Wyoming Supreme Court. Despite the pending appeal construction commenced in September 2024. The case was brought to the supreme court of Wyoming in February 2025, and is currently being deliberated. It’s possible the court could demand the temple be dismantled.
To the passerby the construction site is vast, covering several acres of what was once a pristine sage brush plain, home to migrating ungulates, foxes and birds. Now the skeleton of what will be the towering spire is seen jutting upwards from a wedding cake shaped building - think Brutalist architecture meets Neuschwanstein. Trucks, pallets of building materials and workers in yellow fluorescent vests can be seen scurrying around, installing window frames, digging trenches for the future sewer, and as one resident observed, endlessly driving backwards in beeping trucks.
Eleven percent of Cody’s residents are LDS.
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