New Masonic Temple

New Masonic Temple

TO BE ERECTED IN INDIANAPOLIS , U . S . A .

IN vieAv of the attention now being directed in the proposed re-building of Freemasons' Tavern and the improvements in Freemasons' Hall the following particulars which are extracted from the Tyler-Keystone will be of interest to our readers and may possibly contain some

suggestions of value : " Plans for the new Masonic Temple to be erected at a cost of . $ 250 , 000 by the lodges , chapters and Raper Commandery , No . 1 , K . T ., at the north-Avest corner of New Jersey and Michigan Streets , Indianapolis , have just been

completed by Rubush & Hunter , architects , and adopted by the Indianapolis Masonic Temple Association . The plans are copyrighted by Rubush & Hunter . The building , which is designed along classic lines in the Greek Ionic style , will be very massive and of monumental

character . It will be 100 feet high , with 150 feet on Michigan Street and 112 feet on New Jersey Street . The entire exterior will be of Bedford Oolitic stone and the structure will be strictly fire proof .

KLAHOl-ATE MASONIC TKMl'LK TO UK KliKCTl . l ) IN IN 11 IANAl'OI IS As a distinctive feature , which is absolutely unique , the building will be without windows above the first lloor . In this respect it will probably be different from any other Masonic temple in the world . The lighting of the building

above the first or social lloor will be entirely artificial and the heating and ventilating apparatus will be of the most modern type . All air entering the building will pass through an air washer , by which means it will be entirely freed from dust and smoke .

There will be two handsome entrances , one on Michigan and the other on New Jersey Street . Above the first story will be a heavy belt course , surmounted hy an open balustrade . This belt course forms a base for the Greek Ionic columns of solid stone , eight on Michigan Street and six on New Jersey Street . The columns will be i \\ e feet in diameter and forty feet high .

The entrance in New Jersey Street will open into a spacious corridor on the first or social floor level which will be six feet above the side walk level . This corridor will be twenty feet wide , and separating the men ' s and Avomen's parlors , will lead back to a grand stairway and elevator . The entrance

from Michigan Street will open into a fourteen-foot corridor , which Avill connect with the main corridor and make the grand staircase and elevator of easy access from Michigan Street . The grand stairway leading from the main corridor to the upper floors will be of white marble . The women ' s and

men ' s parlors , each of which will be forty by sixty-five feet , with lofty ceilings , will be situated on the first floor , on either side of the corridor .

In direct connection with the corridors of the first floor and to the rear of the building there will be a spacious auditorium so arranged with tAVO separate entrances from Michigan Street that it may be disconnected from the main building , should it be used for public purposes . This auditorium will have a seating capacity of 800 and will be

provided Avith a large stage , dressing rooms , etc . The second and third stories will be taken up with four lodge rooms , with a separate banquet room and kitchen for each , the banquet rooms on each floor being so arranged that they may be used as one , giving a seating capacity of

250 . All of these stories will be provided with a mezzanine floor , the whole being broken up into the necessary anterooms , etc . The fourth floor will be devoted entirely to the chapter and commandery with armory , banquet , ante-rooms , etc .

The roof Avill be designed for social purposes , and drill space for the commandery . For a number of years it has been apparent from the growth of the order that quarters now occupied by the lodge , chapters and Raper commandery , No . 1 , were wholly

insufficient for their requirements and in keeping with the dignity , or the financial and social standing of the fraternity . Increased necessities culminated in the formation last April of the Indianapolis Masonic Temple Association . The association is composed of one director for each of the constituent bodies .

The site selected by the board of directors of the association meets with hearty approval of the membership of the order . It is accessible , being reached by numerous car lines . The wisdom of the directors in selecting the site is demonstrated by the fact that within live months after the purchase had been made the value of the property had advanced more than $ 10 , 000 . The price paid for the

property Avas £ 40 , 000 . Members of the firm of Rubush & Hunter , architects who prepared the plans , are members of various York Rite bodies . They with the directors of the association , visited all the leading Masonic temples in the country before plans Avere adopted .

The total membership of the lodges interested in the new building is 3 , 413 , and the membership of the " higher " bodies is 1 , 620 .

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" The Los Angeles Freemason , in describing the ceremonies incident to the dedication of the new Scottish Rite Cathedral in that city , characterizes the programme as four days of strenuous Masonry . ' Nothwithstanding the tendency of the times , strenuosity is and will always remain an

incongruity in Masonry . Such an institution as ours ought rather to be a devoted adherent of the ' simple life . ' Let Masonry be festive as it pleases on proper occasion , let it

labour hard and long if it must , but let it cut the word ' strenuous' out of its vocabulary . " It is quite refreshing to find our American confrere , the Tylcr-Keysione , condemning what it terms ' strenuosity' in Masonry . We have quite enough and a little to spare in modern every-day life , even

in this country , and can Avell dispense with this quality of temperament within the peaceful precincts of the lodge room .