Source: North County Times
After more than 10 years of delays, construction is nearly complete on a Sikh Temple in western Escondido that was unpopular with neighbors when the City Council approved the project in 1998.
Nearby residents had objected primarily to large golden domes featured in the temple's architecture, but city and Sikh officials said Friday that neighborhood opposition has dissipated over time. The temple is near the southeastern corner of West Valley Parkway and Avenida del Diablo, just up the hill from Home Depot.
Congregational leaders said Friday that they expect the $1.5 million temple to host its first services in late November. They said financial problems were the primary cause of the long delay in construction.
The congregation's roughly 500 members have met twice a month at Del Dios Middle School for the past decade, said Baljit Toor, the group's chairman.
"It's great that it's almost done," Toor said Friday. "People have asked me many times when it will be finished."