A spire bearing an angel with a trumpet rather than a cross soars above the car dealerships and pasturelands of Davie, just off Griffin Road and Interstate 75.
The buff-colored building is one of only two temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Florida; the other is in Orlando. Opened in the spring of 2014, the temple was meant to serve South Florida’s estimated 25,000 Mormons.
The 35,000-square-foot structure sits on 16 acres. It’s encased in sand-colored concrete panels and its steeple, soaring 99 feet and 10 inches, bears a gold-plated statue of the Angel Moroni sounding a trumpet.
Church officials haven’t disclosed the building’s costs, but the church bought the property in March 2011 for $4.5 million.
The temple is designed for congregants, who must meet certain religious standards, to receive special instruction, become “sealed” in marriage, or contemplate the afterlife in a gold-trimmed Celestial Roon.
Staff researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report
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