Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple
Geoff: Ah! One of my favorite cities in the United States! There’s one clear argument in favor of the Pittsburgh area receiving a temple despite not really being much of a driver of growth: it is part of the Washington DC Temple district, placing it roughly four hours away from its temple. Not only does that contravene President Nelson’s goals, it’s also nuts, considering there’s a temple in Columbus, Ohio, much closer than Washington. And losing Pittsburgh from DC’s temple district won’t be a huge loss when the DC Temple reopens in the fall, the forthcoming Richmond Virginia Temple notwithstanding.
Of course, that’s the main argument against – Pittsburgh, with one new stake organized since 1978, just isn’t that far from Columbus. But a smaller temple there could take greater Pittsburgh’s three stakes, the stake in Altoona, and perhaps stakes in Youngstown, Ohio, and Clarksburg, West Virginia. If built, I could see the actual temple being built outside of Pittsburgh, probably around Cranberry Township, where I once stayed the night at a Red Roof Inn. It’s not a slam dunk, but heck, Cleveland is closer to Pittsburgh than Columbus, so if time traveled is our new barometer, there might be something there.
Joe: You have good taste in cities, my friend, as Pittsburgh is one of my all-time favorites as well. It’s truly one of the greatest city skylines in America, which you can immensely enjoy when you see a Pirates game in the most incredible stadium in Major League Baseball. But I digress. If our fondness for this city carries double the weight in our deliberation, then this prediction is a home run. As it stands, it’s hard to make a case with the numbers, which is predominantly what we do since we don’t have revelation or prophetic vision available to us.
Or maybe it’s one of those “build it and they will come” temples. Heck, if I lived in Cumberland or Martinsburg, I’d rather drive to Pitt than to D.C. I’m of the opinion that The Steel City just needs a temple, and we’ll figure out the particulars later. Though I don’t think the local art and design of this temple will be very Andy Warhol-esque, and that’s a shame.
Geoff: Temple designers officially aim to incorporate local history and culture into temple designs, but with mixed results. It could go both ways in Pittsburgh. We could have something inspired by the amazing Cathedral of Learning… or we could get stuck with the US Steel Tower.
