For anyone who regularly drives east of Heber City, the biggest update on the Heber Valley Utah Temple is now visible from the road:
After years in which much of the story involved hearings, lawsuits, excavation, groundwater, and work below grade, the temple itself is beginning to take shape.
As of late September 2026, construction crews are installing the basement walls of the Heber Valley Utah Temple. Recent photographs dated September 23 show continuing work at the site, and reinforced concrete walls have been rising from the foundation during September.
But there are really two stories unfolding at the same time.
One is happening at the construction site.
The other is happening at the Utah Supreme Court.
And for Heber Valley residents trying to understand where the temple project actually stands, both matter.
The Short Version: The Heber Temple Is Under Construction
First, the most straightforward answer to the question many locals are asking:
Yes, the Heber Valley Utah Temple is actively under construction.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the temple site in 2022. The planned temple is approximately 88,000 square feet and will sit on roughly 18 acres southeast of 1400 East Center Street in the Heber City area. The Church held a groundbreaking on October 8, 2022.
But groundbreaking did not mean that the building would immediately start rising.
The project subsequently became tied up in a complicated land-use dispute, while the physical characteristics of the property—particularly its shallow groundwater—also required substantial engineering work.
That helps explain why someone who heard about the groundbreaking four years ago might reasonably wonder why the temple is only now beginning to emerge from the ground.
As of September 2026, however, the construction picture is significantly different.
A major foundation slab has been poured. Groundwater mitigation work has been underway. Parking areas have begun taking shape. And reinforced concrete basement walls are now being constructed.
In other words, this is no longer simply preliminary site preparation.
The temple structure itself is taking shape.
Why Has the Heber Valley Temple Taken So Long?
The timeline makes more sense when you separate the project into three issues: land-use approval, litigation, and engineering.
Wasatch County approved the temple project through a legislative development agreement in 2023. Nearby property owners subsequently sued the county, arguing that the approval did not comply with applicable land-use regulations and state law. The Church later intervened in the case.
The dispute eventually reached the Utah Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the site presented a completely different practical challenge: groundwater.
Construction reporting from earlier this year described a substantial dewatering operation at the temple site. Twenty well pumps were installed to temporarily lower groundwater so crews could perform foundation work. Water was routed through settling tanks before being discharged into nearby Lake Creek.
That work was followed by construction of the temple's foundation.
In August, crews poured portions of a foundation slab approximately three feet deep. The unusually substantial slab is intended in part to counteract buoyant forces associated with the site's high water table and reduce risks of settlement or cracking.
So while relatively little was visible above ground for a long period, a significant amount was happening underneath it.
What Is Happening at the Construction Site Right Now?
The latest available construction information provides a much clearer picture.
By May, underground plumbing had been installed beneath a lean concrete slab.
By July, crews were installing reinforcing steel and preparing portions of the lower basement for concrete work. The outlines of future parking areas were also becoming visible.
In August, the deep structural foundation slab was poured.
And during September, reinforced concrete basement walls began rising.
The current construction status is listed as “installing the basement walls,” with photographs as recent as September 23, 2026.
That progression matters because the temple is entering a phase in which construction should become increasingly apparent to people passing through the area.
For years, the Heber temple story could feel surprisingly abstract for such a large project. There were renderings, public meetings, court filings, earthwork, pipes, pumps, and excavation.
Now there are walls.
But the Lawsuit Is Not Over
This is where the current status becomes unusual.
The Church is building the temple even though the underlying appeal concerning Wasatch County's approval has not yet been finally resolved.
That is legally possible because of a Utah Supreme Court decision issued February 5, 2026.
To understand that decision, it is important to distinguish between the lawsuit itself and the injunction that temporarily stopped construction.
They are not the same thing.
The Fourth District Court had previously ruled against the residents challenging the project and dismissed their case. The residents appealed. After temple construction began, the district court issued an injunction stopping construction while that appeal proceeded.
The Church then asked the Utah Supreme Court to suspend that injunction.
On February 5, the Supreme Court agreed.
The justices concluded that the residents challenging the project had not established the specific irreparable harm necessary to justify keeping construction stopped while the appeal was pending. The court therefore suspended the injunction.
That February decision did not resolve the underlying land-use appeal.
Instead, it determined that construction could proceed while that larger case continued.
That distinction is important.
The Church Is Building at Its Own Risk
The Supreme Court's February opinion also contains an important detail about what happens if the challengers eventually prevail.
The Church acknowledged that continuing construction before the appeal is resolved carries financial risk.
According to the court's opinion, the Church recognized that if it builds while the case is pending and ultimately loses, it could bear both the construction costs and the cost of restoring the property to its previous condition.
The Supreme Court's decision therefore did not amount to a final declaration that every disputed aspect of the county's approval was lawful.
It meant that the legal standard for maintaining the injunction had not been met.
That cleared the way for construction to resume.
And resume it did.
The Utah Supreme Court Heard the Main Arguments in September
The next major development arrived this month.
On September 4, 2026, the Utah Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Van Dusen v. Wasatch County, the case involving the approval of the temple project. Utah Courts records confirm that the case was on the Supreme Court's September 4 calendar.
The basic disagreement concerns the way Wasatch County approved the project.
The residents challenging the approval contend that the county improperly used its land-use authority and that the temple project conflicts with restrictions applicable to the area.
Wasatch County and attorneys for the Church maintain that the county acted within its authority when it approved the project through a legislative development agreement.
Those are the parties' legal positions—not a conclusion about which side is correct.
That question now belongs to the Utah Supreme Court.
As of September 25, the court has not issued its decision on the underlying appeal, and there is no announced timetable for when that opinion will arrive.
So the simplest description of the current situation is:
Construction continues while everyone waits for the Utah Supreme Court.
How Big Will the Heber Valley Utah Temple Be?
The scale of the project has been one reason it has attracted considerable attention locally.
The Church's original site announcement described a three-story temple of approximately 88,000 square feet on a 17.9-acre site southeast of 1400 East Center Street.
Court records describe the county's development agreement as authorizing an approximately 88,000-square-foot temple, a maintenance building of approximately 2,000 square feet, parking, landscaping, and related improvements on an approximately 18-acre property.
The approved project includes a prominent steeple, and its height has been among the issues discussed throughout the local controversy.
The temple's location also means it will eventually become a significant visual landmark on the eastern side of Heber Valley.
But exactly when residents will see the finished building remains an open question.
Is There an Opening Date for the Heber Valley Temple?
Not yet.
As of late September 2026, no public open-house or dedication date has been announced for the Heber Valley Utah Temple.
And judging by the physical stage of construction, there is still substantial work ahead.
The basement walls are currently being installed. The building will still need to progress through major structural construction, enclosure, exterior finishes, interior work, mechanical and electrical systems, landscaping, parking completion, and other finishing stages before an open house could occur.
The Church's recent official temple updates continue to categorize Heber Valley among Utah temples under construction.
For now, any specific opening date circulating locally should therefore be treated as speculation unless and until the Church announces one.
What Happens Next?
There are two separate milestones worth watching.
At the construction site, the next major visual change will be the transition from basement and foundation work into more of the above-ground structure.
That will make progress much easier to see.
The legal milestone is less predictable.
The Utah Supreme Court has heard the arguments. Now the justices will consider the case and issue an opinion. There is currently no public deadline for that decision.
Depending on what the court decides, the ruling could resolve important questions surrounding Wasatch County's approval of the temple project.
Until then, construction is permitted to continue.
A Project That Has Become Part of the Heber Valley Story
Whatever a resident's personal view of the temple or the land-use dispute, there is little question that the project has become one of the most closely watched developments in Wasatch County.
The temple was announced in October 2021. Its location and rendering were released in 2022. Ground was broken that October. County approval followed. Litigation followed that. Construction started, stopped, and started again. Crews then confronted the engineering realities of building on a site with a high water table.
Now, nearly five years after the temple was announced and almost four years after the groundbreaking, concrete walls are finally rising.
And at almost exactly the same moment, the state's highest court is considering the dispute surrounding the county approval that allowed the project to move forward.
That combination makes September 2026 a particularly significant point in the Heber Valley Utah Temple timeline.
For locals wondering, “What's happening with the Heber temple?”, the answer is no longer that it is stalled.
It isn't.
Crews are actively building it.
The foundation is in place, basement walls are going up, and recent photographs show continued progress through September.
But the legal story has not reached its conclusion.
For now, two timelines continue side by side: one measured in concrete pours and construction milestones, and another measured in briefs, oral arguments, and court decisions.
The next major update could come from either one.