Montpelier Idaho Temple
Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple
Port Vila Vanuatu Temple
Preparing for groundbreaking ceremony; groundbreaking scheduled for Saturday, 8 April 2023
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Announcement:
4 October 2020Groundbreaking and Site Dedication:
8 April 2023 by K. Brett NattressSite:
1.62 acres | 0.7 hectaresArchitectural Features:
Single attached end spireOrdinance Rooms:
One instruction room, one sealing room, and one baptistryTotal Floor Area:
10,000 square feet | 929 square metersElevation:
64.12 feet | 19.54 metersGroundbreaking Ceremony
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Port Vila Vanuatu Temple has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 8, 2023. The event had been previously scheduled for March 4, but it was postponed due to the impact of Cyclones Judy and Kevin. The 10,000-square-foot temple will be constructed on the 1.62-acre site of the Blacksands meetinghouse.1
Temple Design
Plans for the Port Vila Vanuatu Temple call for a single-story building of approximately 10,000 square feet with a single spire. An ancillary building will also be constructed, which will include an arrival center, patron housing, and a distribution center.
Temple Rendering
On May 19, 2021, an official exterior rendering was released for the Port Vila Vanuatu Temple.
Temple Site
On May 19, 2021, the location of the Port Vila Vanuatu Temple was announced as a 1.62-acre site located at Blacksands Crossroads on the site of the Blacksands meetinghouse in Port Vila, Vanuatu, near the Port Vila International Airport.2
Temple Announcement
On October 4, 2020, President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to construct a temple in Port Vila, Vanuatu. The Pacific nation is made up of roughly 80 islands spanning a distancing of 800 miles (1,300 kilometers). Port Vila, located on the island of Efate, is the country's capital and economic center. There are more than 10,000 Latter-day Saints in Vanuatu organized into one stake and three districts. Missionary work began in 1975, shortly after several Latter-day Saint families moved from Tonga to Vanuatu in the early 1970s.3
Temple Facts
The Port Vila Vanuatu Temple will be the first temple built in Vanuatu and the third built in Melanesia, following the Suva Fiji Temple (2000) and the Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple (announced).
- "News for Temples in Five Nations," The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, 27 Mar. 2023.
- "New Temple Site Locations Announced for Two Temples to Be Built in Oceania," The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, 19 May 2021.
- "Prophet Announces Six New Temples at October 2020 General Conference," The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, 4 Oct. 2020.
