Construction of Hindu Temple’s $6.5 million cultural center to wrap in December

The Hindu Temple of St. Louis will wrap up its $6.5 million cultural center in December.

Construction on the new standalone 36,000-square-foot building began in October 2017, with St. Peters-based Cissell Mueller Construction as general contractor and Pfaff Partnership as architect. The new center, 725 Weidman Road in Ballwin, offers a permanent home for the Temple’s cultural and social activities, including classrooms and a yoga and meditation hall.

The number of devotees has doubled since 2003, at 1,900 paid members, driving the need for the new facility, the Temple’s Raman Shrinivas said.

“Currently, buildings are rented to hold weekend cultural education activities for children. The new building alleviates finding rental spaces for cultural activities,” Shrinivas said.

The new construction also adds parking, eliminating the need for devotees to park in surrounding neighbourhoods, he added.

Dr. G.V Naidu served as the Temple’s building committee chairman and worked with Temple’s management and devotees. Shrinivas said the Temple has been planning the new cultural center for the past five years, with design kicking off in late 2016. Past and current members of the Temple’s management and devotees provided the financing.

The design team:

• General contractor: Cissell Mueller Construction
• Architect: Pfaff Partnership
• Electrical: Jay Electric Co. LLC
• HVAC: Doll Services and Engineering
• Fire sprinkler system: United Fire Protection LLC
• Plumbing: Torrisi Plumbing Services
• Engineering and environmental services: Geotechnology Inc.