The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints celebrated the groundbreaking of the Fairview Texas Temple on Saturday in a private ceremony after years of tension with the town over the permit to build the 120-foot-tall structure, now the church’s third temple under construction in Texas.
“A temple in our community stands as an open invitation for all to come unto Christ, who is at the center of all temple worship,” Bishop Nolan Godfrey, a local church leader, said in a statement. “What a tremendous blessing this temple will be for all who see it, walk its grounds, and enter within.”
Construction will take around three years to complete, church spokesperson Melissa McKneely said.
The church first announced plans in October 2022 for another temple in North Texas, initially in Prosper, before landing on an 8-acre plot in Fairview. It was previously named the McKinney Texas Temple, to the ire of some Fairview residents, who also took issue with its initial nearly 174-foot-tall spire, taller than any other structure in the town, including its water tower.
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Fairview residents, organized in a green-shirted group called Fairview United, said the design would not fit the town’s rural identity. The issue divided neighbors and brought yearslong conflict to the town of about 11,000 residents 30 miles north of Dallas, between McKinney and Allen.
Leaders rejected the church’s original proposal and both sides compromised on a 120-foot-tall structure. After the church threatened to sue the town on the basis of religious freedom, the Town Council voted last April to approve a permit for the mediated height.
Church members believe they have a religious right to build the temple as they see fit, arguing temples are sacred houses of worship for faithful members to participate in ceremonies such as marriages and proxy baptisms.
The church hopes the building will support demand for temple worship in a rapidly growing region, where the Dallas temple struggles to serve 100,000 members, including some from as far away as Louisiana, church representatives have said.
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The temple will be built on Stacy Road adjacent to the church’s existing meeting house. The single-story, 30,000-square-foot structure is expected to cost nearly $9.4 million, according to filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The church has not officially announced the estimated cost of the temple.
Texas is home to over 390,000 Latter-day Saints who meet in more than 750 congregations, according to the church, including in temples dedicated in Dallas, Houston, Lubbock, McAllen and San Antonio. The church has announced temples in or near El Paso and Houston, and temples are under construction in or near Austin, Fairview and Fort Worth.
In June, Fairview residents filed a lawsuit challenging the Town Council’s permit approval and the validity of the vote. The case has since been closed.
Fairview Mayor John Hubbard said he hopes the town “can put all this behind” and sees the outcome as a win for everybody — the town got the height reduced and the church got a place of worship.
“We’re neighbors. Let’s work together and just do like we were doing before all this,” he said. “It was done. We came up with this compromise. I know it was a little contentious for a while, but it was done. Let’s celebrate it as a community.”
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