Temple Announced for Brazil

During the area conference in South America in early March, the First Presidency announced plans to construct a temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Construction is expected to begin before the end of 1975 and will require approximately 18 months. The temple, to be the 17th temple in operation, will be situated on a 1.5-acre section of land which the Church purchased over a year ago. The site is on the north side of Avenida Prof. Francisco Morato in the Butanta section of Sao Paulo.

Eventually the site will also accommodate a stake center, a visitors center, and possibly another multi-purpose building.

In making the announcement, President Spencer W. Kimball said the steady growth of the Church in Brazil and the rest of South America led to the decision to build the temple.

The temple design, which was created by Church architect Emil B. Fetzer, includes a white Italian marble exterior. A tower will rise over the entranceway, topped by a porcelain enamel spire with 24-carat gold fused onto its exterior surface. The 20,000 square-foot building will also feature stained-glass windows with anodized bronze grills.

Inside there will be two rooms for ordinance work, a celestial room, four sealing rooms for marriages, and a baptismal room featuring a font mounted on the backs of 12 marble cast stone oxen. There will also be a reception area, offices, dressing rooms, a kitchen and dining room for temple workers, a laundry, and a nursery.

Landscaping will feature fountains and walks and trees, shrubs, and flowers indigenous to the area.

The temple will serve approximately 140,000 members of the Church in South America, more than 40,000 of whom reside in Brazil. Membership in South America has increased by almost 500 percent in the past decade.

There are 15 missions and 18 stakes in the temple area, including approximately 500 wards and branches, 150 of which are in Brazil.

Additional information about the conference will appear in the May Ensign.