Columbus Ohio Temple

Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Ohio, US

The Columbus Ohio Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints (LDS Church) located in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It was completed and dedicated in 1999 as the church's 60th operating temple and serves church members living in 16 stakes, covering most of Ohio, but also extending into western Pennsylvania and southwestern West Virginia. The temple is in the western edge of Columbus, adjacent to Interstate 270 just north of its western junction with I 70.

The temple was announced by LDS Church president Gordon B. Hinckley during a visit to Columbus on April 25, 1998, with a groundbreaking held later that year on September 12. Following completion of construction in 1999, an open house was held from August 19 to 28. The open house attracted approximately 30,000 people, including Ohio Governor Bob Taft. The temple was dedicated in six sessions by Hinckley on September 4, 1999, with approximately 11,000 members attending. The dedication of the Columbus Ohio Temple marked the first modern LDS temple in the state and the first since the 1836 dedication of the Kirtland Temple, the first temple built by the Latter Day Saint movement. Kirtland is located approximately 150 mile (241 km) northeast of Columbus and was the headquarters of the church for much of the 1830s. Increasing persecution and other factors led to the Kirtland Temple being mostly abandoned by 1838, after most church members moved west to Missouri, eventually relocating to Illinois in 1839 and ultimately present day Utah in 1847. The Kirtland Temple is today a National Historic Landmark owned and operated by the Community of Christ. In February 2013, a shooting took place in the temple's parking lot in which at least two people were injured. According to an LDS Church spokesperson, the shooting was unrelated to the temple. Along with other LDS temples around the world, the Columbus Ohio Temple was closed in late March 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Later in March, the LDS Church announced that the temple will close for renovation on August 15, 2020, and is anticipated to reopen in late 2022.