NAUVOO, Ill. -- A new temple now looks west from atop the same bluff where the original Nauvoo Temple stood some 156 years ago.

Some consider the temple's reconstruction the crowning achievement of an effort that began in the 1960s to restore the town Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints founder Joseph Smith Jr. named "beautiful city" upon his 1939 arrival.

Some 335,000 people toured the Nauvoo Temple during a six-week open house that began in May and continued through the June 27 dedication.

Church members and non-members alike climbed the five-story spiral staircase leading to the top floor of the spectacular edifice.

It's estimated that construction, furnishings and landscaping added up to at least $30 million -- although only a select few members of the church hierarchy know for sure.

With a limited number of motel rooms in Nauvoo itself, visitors were dispersed over an area stretching from the Quad Cities to Quincy, Ill.

Business boomed in Nauvoo, and some communities made special efforts to reach out to those who came for the temple's open house and dedication.

Fort Madison Chamber of Commerce officials rented space in Nauvoo and put up a booth directing visitors toward the motels and restaurants in their community.

In Keokuk, officials printed a book telling visitors about points of interest to Mormons in Iowa including the 1853 site of Camp Keokuk -- a resting place for immigrants bound for Utah after the Mormons withdrew from Nauvoo in 1846.

Not everyone was pleased, however, and hundreds packed area churches to hear a former Mormon elder preach an evangelical Christian message about what he claims are the differences between his old faith and his new one.

Rocky Hulse and his missionary efforts stirred controversy, especially following the March 16 publication of a full-page newspaper advertisement about one of his sermons.

Hulse subsequently was banned from the temple during the public open house, with Mormon officials claiming he had been disruptive during an earlier visit. Other people were less vocal, but still whispered of their displeasure at having throngs of out-of-town visitors jamming the streets of their normally quiet town.

Nauvoo Chamber of Commerce director Joseph Johnstun said the bi-annual interfaith passion play will bring at least 2,000 people to Joseph Smith Auditorium.

A commemoration of Camp Keokuk's 150th anniversary also is likely to draw visitors, officials said.