Jacksonville Florida Temple

In his closing remarks at the 192nd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to construct the Jacksonville Florida Temple.

This will be the fifth temple announced in the state of Florida. There are more than 168,000 Latter-day Saints and more than 280 congregations in the state. The state’s first congregation was created in 1897 in the Big Bend region of this southeastern state. Jacksonville is in the northern part of Florida. Other temples in the state include the Orlando Florida Temple (1994, which will soon undergo renovation), Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple (2014), Tallahassee Florida Temple (under construction and nearing completion), and the Tampa Florida Temple (location announced).

A thrilling feeling shot through Gail Pannell when she heard Jacksonville, Florida, the first U.S. city on the list.

“We never thought we would be lucky enough,” she said.

The Orlando temple is about a two-hour drive from where she lives, so she mostly goes there on Saturdays. Once a temple is built in Jacksonville, Pannell will be able to go much more often — especially because her stake has been focusing on family history and preparing their own names to take to the temple.[1]

Location

The Jacksonville Florida Temple is currently in the planning stages. Plans call for a single-story temple of approximately 29,000 square feet to be constructed on a 6.6-acre site located at 3323 Loretto Road, Jacksonville, Florida.[2]