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PROVO — The MTC West is officially a thing.

The LDS Church has submitted its application to the city of Provo to make changes to the Raintree Apartments, which border Freedom Boulevard and the University Parkway. According to church spokeswoman Ruth Todd, MTC West Temporary Facility will keep the same name as the other site and will be known as the Provo Missionary Training Center.

Approximately 700 missionaries will occupy the facilities, with an additional 1,000 at Wyview, with English-language missionaries and those learning some foreign languages being trained there. Each bedroom will house between two and four missionaries. No classes will be held in Wyview buildings. Todd noted that about two-thirds of the apartments in Raintree will be used as classrooms. The missionaries will receive daily mail service at the complex. Missionaries will be bused to and from the Provo Temple.

“Missionaries will be dropped off at the Wyview administration building much like they currently are at the main campus,” Todd said in a statement. They will be greeted at the curb.

According to city planner Sean Allen, the facility will feature five new temporary buildings on the north end of the complex. That will include three bubble-type facilities for fitness and exercise. The others will look similar to mobile buildings often used to extend public school facilities.

“They will be putting in a dining facility and a utility building as well,” Allen said. “A six-foot perimeter fence will surround the entire complex with two gates on the north end.” Allen noted the Provo River borders the west side of the complex and will be separated from the facility by the fence.

Given the nature of LDS missionary life and rules, the pool at Raintree has been partially drained and covered. The laundry room at the complex will be at the missionaries’ disposal.

Community development director Gary McGinn said the buildings will be semi-permanent. They will include flooring, lighting, heating/cooling and other utilities to make it comfortable. In the case of the dining facility there will not be a kitchen. Food will be catered into the facility.

“Now that we have the site plan we’ll go through it and see if it complies with city code,” he said. “It’s already a permitted use in the area, so to do a conceptual approval will be pretty fast.

As far as MTC-wide meetings like firesides and devotionals Todd said there will be some times when all missionaries will join together as circumstances allow. “In other cases, they will join devotionals via video overflow just as missionaries in international MTCs do. In some cases, devotionals will originate from Raintree/Wyview facilities and will be broadcast to other MTC campuses.”

In an earlier press release Elder David F. Evans, executive director of Church’s Missionary Department said, “Regardless of where they are trained, missionaries will have a rich and inspiring experience that prepares them for their labors in their assigned missions.”

McGinn said he thinks the LDS Church should have full approval to move ahead by early June. Before that an administrative hearing will be held June 5 for planning staff to discuss concerns. That hearing is open to the public. It will not go before the planning commission or the city council.

On March 27 the church announced it was leasing an apartment complex at 1849 N. Freedom Boulevard, as well as the use of portions of BYU-owned Wyview Park apartments at 146 W. 1940 North, as short-term housing to the anticipated influx of missionaries at the MTC this summer. Raintree is across the street from Wyview Park and is one of the more secluded housing complexes in the city.

As BYU-approved off-campus housing, Raintree has been one of the more socially active complexes in the student community. Its amenities included a pool, hot tub, sand volleyball court, laundry room, free cable TV, barbecue grills, a lounge with flat-screen TV, pool table, piano and free drinks and candy in the office. It also offers central air conditioning and heating.