The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has officially confirmed the location of a new temple planned for Caldwell, Idaho, announcing the facility will be constructed on a 19.2-acre parcel near the intersection of Orchard Avenue and South Florida Avenue in Canyon County. The announcement, made in a church news release on Tuesday, May 26, confirms a site the church had quietly acquired in July of last year.
Background: Years in the Making
The church announced in 2025 that Caldwell would receive a new temple as part of a broader plan to add fifteen new temple locations worldwide. At that time, church officials had declined to confirm the specific parcel being considered, even as land records indicated the organization had purchased the property. The Tuesday news release removed all ambiguity, formally designating the Canyon County agricultural land as the future home of Idaho’s newest Latter-day Saint temple.
The planned structure will span 82,000 square feet and will include a meetinghouse and an additional building alongside the temple itself. The site sits on what satellite imagery shows to be former agricultural land, currently within unincorporated Canyon County, less than a mile east of established residential subdivisions along Indiana Avenue.
What the Temple Means for the Treasure Valley
When completed, the Caldwell temple will mark the 11th Latter-day Saint temple in Idaho and the third in the Treasure Valley. The church reports it has approximately 480,000 members across the state, organized into roughly 1,300 congregations.
Local church leader Elder Stephen J. Larson expressed enthusiasm for the project. “Temples are sacred and special places of worship, and we are filled with gratitude knowing one has been announced for Caldwell, Idaho,” Larson said in the news release. “The new House of the Lord will provide closer proximity for many members of the Church to serve and worship the Lord.”
That proximity factor is significant. The confirmed location places the temple approximately six miles from downtown Caldwell and roughly 5.5 miles from downtown Nampa, making it accessible to a large concentration of members in both cities. The site also sits about 4.5 miles from Interstate 84’s West Karcher Road interchange and just two miles from a main entrance to Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, placing it in a corridor that bridges established Treasure Valley communities and open land to the south.
Impact on Canyon County Residents
For Canyon County’s substantial Latter-day Saint population, the temple represents a significant reduction in travel time for temple worship, which differs from weekly congregation services and traditionally requires members to journey to dedicated temple facilities. Previously, Treasure Valley members have relied on the existing temples in the region, making a third location a meaningful addition for the growing community.
The project is also likely to draw interest from a development standpoint. The 19.2-acre parcel currently sits in a semi-rural stretch of Canyon County, but nearby residential growth along Indiana Avenue signals that the surrounding area is already transitioning. A large institutional campus of this scale could influence future development patterns and infrastructure planning in that portion of the county.
Canyon County has seen steady population growth in recent years, and Caldwell in particular has been a hub of new residential and commercial development across the broader Treasure Valley. For more on growth and development stories affecting the region, visit Idaho News.
What Comes Next
The church has not yet announced a construction timeline or groundbreaking date for the Caldwell temple. Typical Latter-day Saint temple projects move through site planning, design review, and local permitting processes before construction begins, a timeline that can span several years from announcement to dedication.
Canyon County residents interested in updates on the project can monitor church announcements and county planning records as the permitting process moves forward. Given the site’s current location within unincorporated Canyon County, local zoning and land use decisions may come before county commissioners in the months ahead.