Plans Move Forward on Mexico Temple

A building permit has been issued for construction of the Mexico Temple—an important step in the progress of the sacred building which will serve hundreds of thousands of Mexican and Central American members of the Church.

The 100,000-square-foot temple, located in Mexico City’s Aragon area, will be built near the large Aragon public park and zoological gardens.

The temple will be faced with white cast stone and white marble chips, with detailing adapted from ancient Mayan architecture style. Church architect Emil B. Fetzer, who designed the temple, studied Yucatan ruins first-hand before designing the exterior detailing.

The main part of the building will be seventy feet high, with a tower rising 155 feet to the base of a sixteen-foot statue of the Angel Moroni.

Each of the four ordinance rooms will have a seating capacity of 100. Twelve sealing rooms will be built in the temple, and a 300-seat chapel is planned. The baptismal font will feature a traditional-design basin on the backs of twelve white, cast-stone oxen.

The temple is being arranged so that, at a future date, name and recommend processing can be computer-controlled.

A visitors’ center, in complementary design, will be built adjacent to the temple. Also on the same site, a full-size stake center is currently under construction for the Mexico City Aragon Stake.

The grounds will be landscaped with traditional Mexican plants and with a fountain and water display in front of the temple.

Plans for the temple were first announced by President Spencer W. Kimball in April 1976.