San Diego Magazine September 2014

San Diego’s most secretive structure

Lording it over the I-5 freeway, the 72,000-square-foot San Diego Temple almost looks like a castle that accidentally wandered out of Disneyland. It was commissioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and constructed mostly by non-Mormons. The public was briefly allowed to tour the temple before it was dedicated in 1993, and about 721,000 people took them up on the invitation (including some of us!).

Many of the features inside and the structure itself have a symbolic purpose. Each floor, or “platform,” of the temple is connected by a continuous, freestanding spiral staircase. It’s 90 steps between the second and fourth floors, which serves as a reminder to think about the future and to always make an effort to improve oneself. The ascending floors represent the Mormon’s rising closer to God’s presence. Marriages, considered central to the LDS religion, are performed on the highest floor.

The dress code for people who go inside the temple is all white, symbolizing purity and equality. The temple is not meant for regular worship services and is, in fact, closed on Sundays. Mormons attend church at LDS chapels, not temples.

While most of what goes on inside is privy to members only, the public is allowed to walk the grounds and admire the structure, which was built with 30 percent more glass than any other LDS temple, because of San Diego’s sunlight. It also boasts crystal chandeliers made in Austria and New York.

The temple has 24 lightning rods. The spire is topped by a 14-foot, 1,200-lb. gold-leaf statue of a Book of Mormon prophet, the Angel Moroni, facing east to symbolize the anticipated return of Jesus Christ.