OGDEN, Utah — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will unveil the newly renovated Ogden, Utah, Temple to the public starting Friday, when the temple will be open for tours through Sept. 6, excluding Sundays.

Temple Department Assistant Director Kent F. Richards said the new temple maintains its same footprint, but the exterior and interior has been completely redone.

“We are grateful for the heritage of our Ogden Temple,” Richards said. “As with Solomon’s temple, only the finest material was used.”

Massive mahogany walls, bordered by Egyptian marble lead visitors from the adjacent tabernacle through a garden courtyard and into the temple, revered by members of the LDS faith as the house of God.

“The pioneer motif, the prairie grass and the desert rose are woven throughout the temple,” Richards said. “There is a connection to the past as we move into the future.”

Part of a mural from the old temple was also incorporated in the new building to commemorate the past.

Richards, who also served as a clinical professor of surgery at the University of Utah and chairman of the surgery department at the LDS Hospital, said for members of the church, the temples are very sacred places.

A formal rededication ceremony is planned Sept. 21, the event will be broadcast at 10 am and at 1 and 4 pm to LDS meeting houses throughout Utah, Wyoming and Idaho.

A member of the church’s Fifth Quorum of the Seventy, Craig G. Fisher said the new place of worship is one of 143 LDS temples worldwide and one of 14 in Utah. The Ogden Temple will serve about 250,000 members in 73 stakes in Utah and Wyoming.

Fisher, said within days of announcing that the Ogden Temple would be open for public tours, LDS offices received more than 300,000 reservations. A new underground parking garage will help and Fisher said, the city of Ogden will also provide transport for the temple tours.

The chapel inside the tabernacle seats 1,300 and a new pipe organ is the back drop for the large alter.

Fisher declined to say how much money was spent on the remodel, but he said it was funded through church tithing, the Ogden Temple is the church’s fourth largest.

Temple Square in Ogden encompasses almost 10 acres. The building is 112,232 –square feet, it is more than 188 feet high and that includes a 13-foot high gold statue of the Angel Moroni.

The structure is granite quarried and fabricated in China.

Fisher said Big D Construction of Salt Lake City, Utah built the temple that was designed by Richardson Design Partnership, also of Salt Lake City.

The temple’s entrance was relocated to the east side of the block and Fisher said energy saving electrical, plumbing and heating systems were installed.

Guests of LDS brides and grooms that are not members of the church are required to wait in the elegant room just off the entry way. Decorated in earthy tones and separated from the foyer by a partition of mahogany and stained glass, the room has a masculine feel.

LDS members must have a recommendation from their bishop and stake president before taking part in religious rites inside the temple. Fisher said members are expected to pay tithing, attend meetings and maintain LDS healthy living and moral standards.

“The temple is a place where religious rites are performed for the living and for the deceased,” Fisher said.

Pale stained glass windows highlight each area and cast a calming, rose-colored glow to the elegant rooms connected by impressive hallways, strategically decorated with heavy furniture and simple, but sophisticated lighting.

At the baptismal font, LDS youngsters are baptized in honor of the deceased.

“We do it for (the deceased) here and hope that they accept it on the other side of the veil,” Fisher said.

The pool sits on the backs of a dozen marble oxen, three facing each direction and a dramatic painting portraying John the Baptist baptizing Jesus highlights the room.

Fisher said the oxen represent the 12 Tribes of Israel.

“We believe these temples existed in ancient times,” Fisher said.

The original Ogden Temple was dedicated in 1972, at that time it was the 14^th in the world and the fifth in in Utah.

The LDS church reached one million members in 1947 and most of them were in North America. Today the church’s membership boasts 13.5 million and less than 14 percent reside in Utah and less than 50 percent live in the U.S.

Fisher said the temples are built based on need and proximity to the LDS stakes, currently 30 new temple are under construction worldwide.

Church members wear white inside the temple representing purity.

The LDS faith believe that marriage and family are eternal and the work they do inside the temple part of that.

Six endowment room, theater style spaces where members learn more about God’s plan for them, are connected by a series of currently vacant offices.

Hand-carved stone and gold leaf detail accent the hall leading to the bride’s room.

The desert rose emblem is incorporated in a one-of-a kind carpet and colorful flora and green foliage create a sense of closeness and warmth. Here brides spend their last few moments contemplating the life-changing step they are about to take.

“We believe that marriage and family isn’t just in this life, it’s forever, it’s eternal,” Julia Fisher said.

Julia is Fisher’s wife, and she said members practice reverence and respect when they enter the temple.

“It is the Lord’s house,” Julia said.

In the sealing room, hand-painted ceilings and graceful lighting are the pivotal point of the space. Here family members share the experience as couples are joined for time and eternity. Enormous mirrors face each other magnifying the light and adding depth to the room.

“It is a stunning and beautiful service,” Fisher said. “The mirrors go on forever representing eternity.”

Members of the LDS church can be married in the temples free of charge with a recommendation from their bishop and stake representative.

Fisher said the temple can accommodate more than 80 languages as well as ASL.

In the celestial room, LDS members feel as if they are in the presence of God, Fisher said.

A 30-foot high dome is the room’s focus, set off by ornate lighting, the room is lavish, but the palate of pastels and egg-shell white merge to create a softness, a sense of serenity.

Fisher said following the rededication in September, the Ogden Temple will not be opened to the public.

In conjunction with the rededication, a cultural event featuring music and dance is set for Sept. 20, at the Ogden Temple, located at 350 22^nd Street.

To make a reservation to tour the new Ogden Temple, go to www.templeopenhouse.lds.org, or call 855-537-2000.