Announcement: 1 October 1915
Site Dedication: 1 June 1915 by Joseph F. Smith
Dedication: 27–30 November 1919 by Heber J. Grant
Public Open House: 2–27 May 1978
Rededication: 13–15 June 1978 by Spencer W. Kimball
Public Open House: 22 October–13 November 2010
Rededication: 21 November 2010 by Thomas S. Monson
Featuring cascading pools and a large fountain, the Laie Hawaii Temple sits on a 11.4 acres lot in the middle of lush Hawaiian flora on a gently rising hill, just a half mile from the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. On the same site is a highly visited public visitors’ center, and adjacent to it is Church-owned Brigham Young University–Hawaii and Hawaii’s number-one paid attraction, the Polynesian Cultural Center. The location was part of the original Mormon landholdings of Hawaii known as Laie Plantation; a 6,000-acre parcel purchased in 1865 for $14,000. In 1915, President Joseph F. Smith was in Hawaii on business when he was moved by a spiritual impulse to dedicate a site for the Laie Hawaii Temple. The action was later ratified by the brethren and publicly sustained in the October 1915 General Conference.
This temple was the first dedicated outside of a state or territory where Church Headquarters were located at the time, sixteen years before the creation of the first Hawaiian stake on Oahu in 1935. Thus it is often considered to be the first temple to have been “brought to the people” as well as the first built outside of the continental United States. At the time it was also the smallest temple built by the LDS Church. The construction of the Laie Hawaii Temple came to a standstill when the supply of lumber ran out. After may prayers, two days later, a freighter was discovered stranded on a nearby coral reef. The captain offered his entire cargo of lumber to the saints if they would unload it for him. The concrete exterior of the temple was created using native crushed volcanic rock and coral. It is also one of only three temples built with no towers or spires (The others are the Cardston Alberta Temple and the Mesa Arizona Temple.)
In 1976, the Laie Hawaii Temple closed for two years for extensive remodeling. The renovations included a new front entrance, enlarged patron and administrative facilities, and converted the live acting, progressive-style ordinance rooms to stationary rooms equipped for motion-picture presentations. In 2008, it was closed again for another two years. This time it got structural and seismic upgrades, and the ordinance rooms were converted back to their original progressive-style presentation of the endowment; however, still using film. The baptistry was also repaired and renovated.
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