BRIGHAM CITY -- The exterior walls are up, one spire is in place with another to follow in the next few days, and the Angel Moroni will be placed on July 12.
But it still will be more than a year before the Brigham City Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be complete.
Every day people stop by the temple site to view the progress of the temple's construction.
Some watch from the viewing area on the corner of the block where the temple is being built, while others bring lawn chairs and picnics and watch from the Tabernacle lawn across the street.
"I think the people are going to be very pleased with how beautiful it is going to be," said Sister Michele Peck.
Peck and her husband, Elder Gregory Peck, of Idaho Falls, have been called to serve as temple missionaries in Brigham City. They are on the construction site each day to meet with the public and answer questions.
The Pecks also conduct church meetings and firesides on request.
Elder Peck also serves as the assistant site manager for the church, so he is often reviewing plans and meeting with contractors.
Sister Peck spends her days journaling the building of the temple, taking photos and recording the details of the construction project. On completion, one copy of her records will be placed within the cornerstone of the temple and another will be preserved in the church archives.
The exterior panels of the Temple are constructed of precast concrete poured into molds in a factory in Sacramento, Calif.
This method makes it possible to build each piece to precise specifications and ensure that each piece is the same quality.
The brilliant white walls get their color from limestone aggregate and special white cement, said Sister Peck.
The temple is on four levels, which includes a basement where the baptistery will be located.
There will be 220 parking spaces in street-level and underground parking.
The front entrance will be on the east side, with curved staircases leading to the parking lot.
Current plans call for the use of rock from Weber Canyon to line those staircases, the same rock that was used on the exterior of the Tabernacle, said Sister Peck.
The east spire weighed 75,000 pounds and was constructed of five separate panels assembled on site. It was placed on the tower June 10.
The top of the spire reaches 163 feet above the ground and is easily visible above Brigham City's tree-covered streets.
The west spire will be 150 feet from the top of the spire to the ground, and it is expected to be placed this week.
But the placement of the Angel Moroni is what many people are anxiously waiting for.
The sculpture was made by Karl Quilter. According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Quilter has made the vast majority of the angels for temples since 1954.
Quilter was the speaker at a fireside at the Brigham City Tabernacle on Sunday evening when the placement of the Angel Moroni was announced.
In a talk that was broadcast to stake centers throughout the temple district, Quilter presented a slide show and explained the process of creating Moroni, one muscle at a time.
The angel is 12 feet tall and stands on top of a ball that is a 18 inches tall.
Because the angel is now made out of fiberglass, Quilter said, the angels placed on temples now weigh about 267 pounds, in comparison to the Moroni on the Salt Lake City Temple, which weighs 4,000 pounds.
While details about the construction of the exterior components of the 44,000-square-foot temple are readily available, Sister Peck said the church is releasing few details about the inside.
"The inside features are very symbolic and more meaningful when viewed as a whole," she said.
However, she was able to say that the artistic elements inside will highlight Brigham City's history with a peach blossom theme.
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