The Nauvoo Illinois Temple is the 113th dedicated temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is the third such temple that has been built in Illinois (the original Nauvoo Temple and Chicago Illinois Temple being the others). History Located in the town of Nauvoo, the temple's construction was announced on April 4, 1999, by church president Gordon B. Hinckley. Groundbreaking was conducted on October 24, 1999 and the cornerstones were laid November 5, 2000. The structure itself was built in the Greek Revival architectural style using limestone block quarried in Russellville, Alabama. It is built in the same location as the original structure that was dedicated in 1846. The origins of the temple go back to 1937. In that year, Wilford C. Wood purchased some of the land on behalf of the LDS Church and purchased another piece of land that he later sold to the church. He also organized a group of church members from the Chicago Illinois Stake, co-led by Ariel S. Williams, to clear and beautify the recently purchased land. At the time, the Chicago Stake was one of only two east of the Mississippi River. Wood purchased land in 1951 that included a house which was made a visitors center for the temple site. In the late-1950s, and then in 1962, agents for the LDS Church completed the purchase of the temple lot. Exterior design and decoration The building measures long, wide, and tall to the top of the statue of angel Moroni, which sits atop the temple spire, in a pattern similar to the Salt Lake Temple. It has an area of . It is the only temple owned by the LDS Church today that has a bell tower, although the Kirtland Temple also has a bell tower. The angel on the first Nauvoo temple was a weather vane, sculpted of metal. The figure was positioned horizontally as if it were flying, clothed in a robe and cap. The angel held a book in one hand and a trumpet in the other. Church leaders and architects carefully worked to replicate the original exterior design of the 19th-century temple, which was damaged by an arson fire in 1848 and by a tornado on May 27, 1850. It was consequently condemned and demolished by the Nauvoo City Council. Construction materials and furniture were derived from the original design as well. Interior