| The early 1970s
left the Saints living east of the Mississippi River as the largest group of Church
members not living within a day's drive of a temple. Consequently, the 1968 announcement
that a temple would be built near Washington, D.C. was excitedly received by members
living in eastern Canada, the eastern United States, and in Latin America. The site had
been secured six years earlier in 1962 for $850, 000. This was the "finest, most
attractive, and largest undeveloped tract of its kind in the metropolitan Washington
area." It was situated on a wooded hill overlooking beautiful Rock Creek Park. Only
eleven of the many-acre tract was to be cleared for construction in order to give the area
of the temple a feeling of isolation from the nearby city distractions. The Church architect, still heavily involved with the Ogden Utah and
Provo Utah Temples, was unable to take the assignment of new temple's design. Hence, a
team of four well-known Utah architects received the assignment. "We were overwhelmed
to have been chosen for such a responsible task," commented Keith W. Wilcox (who
became a General Authority sixteen years later). "We considered it to be the greatest
opportunity of our lives. Every architect having membership in the Church dreams of having
an opportunity to design a temple." The architects realized that because the
Washington D.C. Temple would be a visual representation of the Church in that part of the
United States, it needed to be a "majestic edifice." When he first envisioned
the grand six-spire design, Architect Wilcox testified that he felt "a great surge of
the spirit." The new building would easily be recognized as a one of the Church's
temples because of the similarity that it had to the widely recognized Salt Lake Temple.
The temple's vertical lines would "visually [express our] relationship to
Deity." The previous summer, Wilcox's mother had said, "Keith, you're going to
design a temple for the Church." He chuckled, thanking her for the confidence she had
shown him, and then explained that, "our temples, historically, had been designed by
the Church architect." However, she insisted that he should be prepared.
Members were asked to raise four and a half million of the
estimated fifteen million dollars that it would take to construct the building.
Contributions poured in from people of all backgrounds and circumstances. One gift from
Mississippi was a contribution of eighty dollars in baby sitting money. Another was
thousands of dollars in the form of stocks from a wealthy businessman. Ultimately, temple
district members donated over six million dollars.
1971 was the first year of construction. The basic
structure was created from concrete, but the exterior was covered with beautiful white
Alabama marble. Narrow, vertical bands were cut every few feet to a five-eighths-inch
thickness. During the day, these "marble windows" permitted a soft amber glow to
light the temple's interior.
Home of the eighteen foot, two ton figure of the Angel
Moroni sculpted by Harvard Fairbanks is the temple's east central tower. At a height of
280 feet, it is the tallest of any Latter-day Saint temple.
Another striking feature of the temple is a
thirty-foot-long mural in the main lobby depicting the Second Coming. The painting's
donator J. Willard Marriott, suggested that the artist include the Washington D.C. Temple
in the scene. Structurally, the temple houses six ordinance rooms, a celestial room with a
thirty-five foot vaulted ceiling, and a large assembly room on the upper floor.
"Completion ceremonies" marked the formal
conclusion of construction. A metal box containing historical artifacts was placed at
temple's northeast corner by members of the First Presidency. President Marion G. Romney
pointed out that "we have no finer buildings in the Church than the temples,"
because they are God's "dwelling place" where He "reveals His presence to
His faithful saints."
The first week of the open house period was devoted to
special tours for United States government officials and members of the diplomatic corps
representing many other nations. In addition, a tour specifically for the temple's
immediate neighbors was even conducted. Betty Ford, the President's wife, participated in
one of these tours. While "watching the First Lady having her photograph taken with
President Spencer W. Kimball," Elder Gordon B. Hinckley recalled that the prophet
Joseph traveled to the U.S. capital and was unsuccessful in petitioning the government to
compensate the Saints for their sufferings in Missouri. "How far the church has come
in the respect and confidence of public officials," he thought.
During the seven weeks, an amazing 758,328 persons visited
the temple. "I saw people change from cold months to a mellow spirit as they entered
the temple, heard the explanation, saw John Scotts painting [of the Second Coming] and
then proceeded through the temple," recalled President Edward E. Drury, the temple's
first president. "Many left with tears in their eyes." Widespread publicity for
the open house attracted including favorable articles that appeared in newspapers in all
fifty states.
Every General Authority but two had the opportunity to
speak during the ten dedicatory sessions November 19-22, 1974. At the groundbreaking
ceremony, President Hugh B. Brown, who had a large responsibility in planning for the new
temple, had petitioned the Lord to prolong his life so that he could attend the
dedication. On the morning of the temple's dedication, President Brown related to his
colleagues that "he had been visited during the night by President Harold B.
Lee," who had died the previous year. Later that morning he told President Lee's
widow, "I had a glorious visit with Harold last night. He is just fine. It was so
good to visit with him." At the dedication, President Brown declared, "I have
looked forward to this for sometime. In fact, I set this as a departing point for me and
thought that when this was accomplished I probably would be released or assigned to
another field." He died just over a year later. (Temples to Dot the Earth,
pp. 174-178).
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