Queen Creek now has an exact address for its future Latter-day Saint temple. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has selected a 15.5-acre site at the southeast corner of Ryan Road and Euell Drive, tucked between Meridian Road to the west and Ironwood Road to the east, where an 82,000-square-foot temple will eventually rise alongside a meetinghouse and an additional support building.
The site selection, announced on Monday, marks the first concrete milestone since Church President Russell M. Nelson first revealed plans for a Queen Creek temple on October 6, 2024, during the 194th Semiannual General Conference, one of 17 new temples unveiled worldwide that day, according to ChurchofJesusChristTemples.org. Hoodline previously reported on that initial early temple announcement before any property had been chosen. As reported by KTAR News 92.3 FM, church officials still have not released a completion timeline for the Queen Creek project or for the other Arizona temples currently in the pipeline.
Local Leaders React to the Announcement
Queen Creek Mayor Julia Wheatley publicly welcomed the site selection, saying the temple announcement honors the town's pioneer heritage and its core values of faith, family, and service, according to the Queen Creek Independent. Wheatley added that the sacred facility will bring peace and hope to the town for generations, per the same outlet.
Local church leadership echoed that enthusiasm. Queen Creek Arizona North Stake President Jason Bagley described the future temple as a regional focal point for individuals and families seeking spiritual peace, the Independent reported. Stakes function as multi-congregational geographic administrative units within the Church, and the meetinghouse planned for the site will serve as a location for weekly worship and other congregational activities distinct from the temple itself, which is reserved for religious ceremonies apart from regular Sunday services.
A Fourth Temple for the Phoenix Metro Area
Once complete, the Queen Creek facility will become the fourth Latter-day Saint temple in the Phoenix metropolitan area, joining existing temples in Mesa and Gilbert. The Gilbert Arizona Temple, an 85,326-square-foot building on 15.4 acres, was dedicated in March 2014 by President Thomas S. Monson and was, at the time, the largest temple the Church had constructed worldwide in nearly 17 years. Arizona's original temple, the Mesa Arizona Temple, was dedicated in October 1927 by Church President Heber J. Grant and later underwent a three-year historic preservation effort before its rededication in December 2021 by President Dallin H. Oaks.
Arizona currently has six operating temples, located in Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix, Snowflake, the Gila Valley, and Tucson, per KTAR's report. Beyond Queen Creek, the state has two more temples in the works: a single-story, 18,850-square-foot temple in Flagstaff on 10.43 acres, and a single-story, 18,500-square-foot temple in Yuma on 7 acres. Site details and exterior renderings for the Yuma temple were released in November 2025, while Flagstaff's site was only identified earlier this year, according to ChurchofJesusChristTemples.org.
Roots Stretching Back to the Mormon Battalion
Mayor Wheatley's reference to pioneer heritage nods to a history that predates Queen Creek itself. Latter-day Saints have had a presence in Arizona since December 1846, when the 500-member Mormon Battalion marched across the territory during the Mexican-American War and mapped what became known as Cooke's Wagon Road, a trail that later influenced the boundary set by the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, according to the Church Newsroom.
Today, Arizona is home to more than 442,000 Latter-day Saints worshipping across nearly 900 congregations statewide, according to KTAR, making it one of the largest state concentrations of Church members in the country.
A Town Transformed by Growth
The temple project also reflects Queen Creek's own transformation. Incorporated in September 1989 with roughly 2,500 residents, the town has ballooned into a major East Valley suburban hub with an estimated population exceeding 83,000 by 2024, according to the Town of Queen Creek. Originally settled in the early 1900s as an agricultural community named Rittenhouse, Queen Creek is now counted among the fastest-growing towns in Arizona.
What remains unclear is when construction will actually begin. Church officials have not released a completion timeline for any of the state's planned temples, and questions remain about the town's pending review process covering zoning, building height, lighting, and traffic management along Ryan and Ironwood roads.
