INQUIRER: A new Mormon temple will be constructed on the 400 block of North Broad Street across from the Philadelphia School District headquarters, the church announced today. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it will build the temple on a parking lot it owns on Broad Street between Noble and Hamilton Streets. According to city tax records, the church paid $8 million in October 2007 for two lots totaling 33,400 square feet — less than an acre. The land is now occupied by a private parking lot surrounded by chain-link fence. Mormon Church president Thomas S. Monsoon said on Saturday that the church planned to build five temples worldwide: in Philadelphia; near Kansas City, Mo.; in Calgary, Canada; Cordoba, Argentina; and Rome. The 13 million-member church has 128 operating temples worldwide, including 61 in the United States. Construction or plans for 12 more are in the works. The Philadelphia temple would be Pennsylvania’s first. MORE
MORMONISM FOR DUMMIES