Conference Center closing as church, city, state officials plan for Salt Lake Temple reopening

SALT LAKE CITY (KSL) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Conference Center will be mostly closed between March 30 of this year and March 1, 2027, church officials announced Wednesday.

The closure will help “facilitate critical construction, infrastructure upgrades and exhibit development” in preparation for next year’s massive Salt Lake Temple open house celebration. The closure won’t affect “major scheduled events,” though, like the church’s general conferences, Luz de las Naciones and the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert.

“This operational pause is essential to allow project teams to execute a significantly expanded scope of work and ensure the facility is fully prepared to support the elevated guest experience planned for 2027,” church officials said in a statement.

While the church continues to prepare the world for a unique tour of the renovated Salt Lake Temple, downtown business leaders are preparing for what could be a boon for the local economy.

“This flow of visitors really presents a tremendous economic opportunity for downtown, for the merchants who are downtown, and frankly, for the tax revenue opportunities as well,” said Dee Brewer, director of the Salt Lake City Downtown Alliance, as he presented Salt Lake leaders with an update to visitation expectations on Tuesday.

An economic opportunity?

Church officials estimate that 3 million to 5 million people will attend the free event that will last from April to October in 2027. Salt Lake City anticipates that it could bring 18,000 to 25,000 additional visitors each day during the open house celebration, resulting in a 25% increase in daily customer volume.

Although overall traffic has lagged since the COVID-19 pandemic, downtown Salt Lake City averaged 91,894 visitors per day in 2024. General conference, sporting events and other downtown conventions led to surges at times.

Visitation also skewed toward the weekend. Friday and Saturday were the biggest days for out-of-market visitors, mirroring the post-pandemic trend that points to the rise of the area’s social economy.

That’s where the extra bump projected next year helps.

“This opportunity in 2027 allows us to turn Sunday through Thursday into Friday every day,” Brewer said, adding that the Downtown Alliance is investing in strategies that seek to keep people in downtown longer before or after their Temple Square visits.

These include producing daily outdoor music or artistic performances or pop-up galleries in the area, while also finding ways to help promote downtown businesses. The organization is also working with Visit Salt Lake to plan a hospitality kiosk to help visitors navigate downtown during their stay.

It’s meeting with the church soon to go over ways to accommodate families, he said. A specific budget request tied to the open house is expected to be unveiled as early as next month.

The open house could also be a major moment for statewide tourism.

Given the expected visitation, it might be the biggest event to take place in Utah between the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics and the 2034 Winter Games, said Natalie Randall, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism and Film.

“It’s kind of this trial run for the Olympics that lasts for six months,” she told KSL earlier this month. “We’re working with the industry to have them lean into that opportunity as well, so that other quarters of the state can find ways to leverage those opportunities that are happening in our capital city.”

Planning for the traffic

However, an event like it requires lots of planning, especially since it may not be the only major thing happening in downtown next year.

That’s already underway. Salt Lake City is considering a temporary closure of some roads next to Temple Square to accommodate safety needs because of the expected traffic. A public hearing on that proposal will be held on March 10.

Church officials said they’re exploring a shuttle service with park-and-ride facilities along North Temple west of I-15, in addition to urging people to use TRAX and adding additional parking spaces. A hotel shuttle bus route would also be helpful in reducing traffic and parking constraints, Brewer said.

The Downtown Alliance estimates 2,200 spaces are needed at any time, assuming that 65% of visitors arrive by car, each car averages 3.5 people and there’s one stall turnover during a 12-hour day.

But other downtown developments could also make transportation interesting.

Smith Entertainment Group is on track to finalize its purchase of the west end of the Salt Palace Convention Center in 2027, which may lead to construction starting on a new plaza over 300 West outside of the arena — potentially causing more downtown closures at the same time, Brewer warned.

It’s something city and downtown business leaders are tracking.

“Those are real pinch points that will have to contend with,” he said.