A local Buddhist society is leaving urban Ottawa to build a unique grand temple in a more peaceful area near the village of Richmond, hoping the ornate facility will also be a draw for worshipers from across eastern Ontario and Quebec.

The International Buddhist Progress Society of Ottawa-Carleton has applied to the City of Ottawa for land-use permission to carve out a piece of forested land for a temporary worship facility and traditional Chinese-style temple at 6688 Franktown Rd.

The Buddihist society is vacating its current facility on Scott Street and heading for a more tranquil setting on the 39-hectare parcel of land in rural Ottawa. The new Fo Guang Shan temple would have a long driveway leading from Franktown Road to a one-storey temple and a two-storey rooming house.

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Bingfeng Li, the project manager for the development, said a temporary worship facility constructed on the site later this year will have roughly the same area as the current Scott Street building. The permanent temple, which will take much longer to build, will be about 10-times the area of the temporary facility.

“The client isn’t just looking at how many people they have currently. They’re looking at the future,” Li said on Tuesday.