New Latter-Day Saints temple open to public - briefly

Sunday, April 9, 2000 | 10:58 a.m.

But after that, only those baptized in the Mormon faith will be allowed inside under church rules.

The temple earned rave reviews from invited guests who took part in special preview tours Thursday and Friday.

"I don't know how to explain it any other way than to say it's a magnificient building," Washoe County Schools Superintendent Jim Hager said.

"The quality of the workmanship, the beauty and the serenity are awe-inspiring."

The temple's exterior is made of granite from a quarry in Sharon, Vt., the birthplace of church founder Joseph Smith.

The baptistry features a 600-pound alabaster chandelier, wall accents of hand-painted gold leaf and marble from North Carolina.

Reno's 10,700-square-foot temple is the 81st such Mormon temple in the world and the second one in Nevada. An 8,000-square-foot temple opened in Las Vegas in 1989.

The Reno temple was built to spare local church members a 200-mile drive to what had been the nearest temple in Oakland, Calif.

The temple will serve about 26,500 Latter-day Saints who live in a region stretching from Winnemucca to Lake Tahoe and from Hawthorne to Susanville, Calif.

Members attend regular Sunday services in meeting houses open to anyone, but must go to a temple to perform certain religious ceremonies.