Today it was announced that the Kona Hawaii Temple will close for extensive renovations beginning in October 2023. It will remain closed for approximately two years, until late 2025, when the renovations are complete. Unfortunately we don’t have any additional details at this time regarding exactly what the renovations will entail. But we do know that the exterior (and likely some of the interior) is going to change significantly. As you can see in the artist rendering above and below, once the renovations are complete it will have a very different exterior design. We also know that the square footage of the temple will increase from 9,500 to approximately 12,000. So there must be a need for the additional space for more temple work to be done.

During the two-year renovation, Latter-day Saints in the area are encouraged to attend the Laie Temple.

Once the renovations are finished, a public open house and rededication will take place. Details about those items will be provided as the time gets closer.

UPDATE: A new official rendering of the future Kona Temple was released on September 11, 2023. It appears that the steeple and perhaps the water feature in front are the only parts of the design that have changed. The steeple’s change was likely made to reflect the design of many of the other temples that are currently being built, and the Angel Moroni statue removed for the same reason. You can compare the two renderings below. The updated rendering is first, and the original rendering is second: