SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced last month that the historic Salt Lake Temple, which has been under renovation for years, will reopen with a six-month public open house in 2027.
The event is expected to bring in church members and nonmembers alike from all over the world, as the building has not been open to the general public since it was dedicated in 1893. That open house, in turn, could have a deep economic impact, according to downtown leaders.
Church officials have since met with the Salt Lake City Downtown Alliance and Visit Salt Lake, reporting to them that they anticipate the open house — which will require tickets at no cost — will generate 3 million to 5 million visits to Temple Square over those six months, Dee Brewer, executive director of the Downtown Alliance, told KSL.com.
That’s because tours of up to one hour will take place 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Each tour is also expected to anchor a visit to other buildings within the renovated Temple Square area, which could keep people in the area for three to four hours.
The estimate is similar to Temple Square visitation projections in 2019 before the church embarked on an ambitious project to renovate and retrofit the historic temple to protect it from future earthquakes.
The massive project includes repairs and other modifications throughout Temple Square. Many sections have slowly started to reopen in recent years, including its west side last month.
Downtown Alliance officials took these numbers, which they believe will come from the open house itself, and rounded them to 4 million visitors. They then plugged them into their economic formula, estimating that the open house could boost downtown visitation by 20% in 2027. It could bring about 22,000 additional visitors every day for six months, according to projections obtained by KSL.com.
“That’s a huge number,” Brewer said, noting that it’s about the same as one event at Abravanel Hall, Delta Center or Eccles Theater every day.
The organization believes it could translate into about $320 million in additional spending at downtown businesses and restaurants. It would bolster an already growing number of leisure visits, which have generated the bulk of downtown visits since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Downtown Alliance reported in January that there were 20.7 million customer days in 2024, which is a figure calculated by when someone who doesn’t live or work downtown spends at least 90 minutes in the downtown core. Its spending estimate is based on an average of $80 spent per person at downtown businesses, excluding lodging or transportation that could raise spending.
Last year’s figure marked a 3.5% increase in customer days, while City Creek Center — located across the street from Temple Square — emerged as the driver in consumer days. The Gateway, Delta Center and Salt Palace Convention Center were also major drivers last year.
The temple open house could also lead to some traffic challenges, but Brewer said it’s nothing the city can’t handle, especially since the potential 22,000 visits would be spread out throughout the day. He adds that the opening has already garnered interest from local businesses as they’ve started to meet about the projections.
However, the largest interest seems to be centered more on the open house itself.
“Just anecdotally, as we’ve been talking about this with visitors and with merchants, they’re really excited. … (Our staff was) talking to some bartenders the other night and they couldn’t wait to go. They wanted to be among the first to take the tour and tell their patrons about it,” he said. “I think the church is making projections that reflect that kind of interest in this very unique opportunity.”
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