Location
Avenida Bolivar no. 825
Los Robles
10106 Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional
Dominican Republic
Contact
Telephone: (809) 731-2000
Facsimile: (809) 731-2011
Distribution Services: (809) 221-8515
Details
Announcement: 16 November 1993
Groundbreaking and Site Dedication: 18 August 1996 by Richard G. Scott
Public Open House: 26 August–9 September 2000
Dedication: 17 September 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley
Site: 6.42 acres.
Exterior Finish: Regina white granite.
Ordinance Rooms: Four ordinance rooms (two-stage progressive) and four sealing.
Total Floor Area: 67,000 square feet.
Temple Locale:
The site of the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple is on a tree-covered, slightly elevated location in a southern, upscale area just a few minutes from the center of Santo Domingo next to the National Music Conservatory. The beautiful site, open to the public, offers an expansive view of the Caribbean Sea to the south.
Temple Facts:
The Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple was the first temple built in the Caribbean (and in the Dominican Republic).
Groundbreaking Ceremony:
At the groundbreaking ceremony, Elder Scott challenged members to have a temple recommend with them at the time of the temple dedication and to keep it renewed from then on. He gave several suggestions for members to follow including making Christ the center of your life, determining to follow His teachings, and seeking His will and making it your will.
Elder F. Burton Howard, also present at the ceremony, noted that family ties are stronger than any other relationships. He pointed in the congregation to the large group of full-time missionaries. The missionaries had walked to the ceremony a distance of about three miles from a nearby meetinghouse where they had just attended a countrywide, three-mission conference. They gathered on the east side of a rope barrier across the way from many family members that the missionaries had not seen for a long time. "Many of the parents strained to wave to the missionaries when they came on the site. Many parents, who had not seen their sons and daughters for some time, were anxious to reach them, but they could not because of the barrier that had been placed there for the ceremony,'' said Elder Howard. He used this analogy to explain the purpose of temples. "How tragic it would be if, in the life after this, families were separated,'' he said. "The purpose of temples is to enable families and loved ones to live together. This cannot be done without the ordinances performed in the House of the Lord'' (Church News, 24 August 1996).