The Marquette Masonic Temple is a very large building in the downtown area.
History of the building:
"The original Masonic Building was built in 1890 and was home to the
Marquette Opera House for many years. The Masonic organizations
leased office space until they purchased the building in 1927.
In the early morning hours of January 25, 1938, a fire broke out which
completely destroyed the Masonic Temple and all of its contents.
Firemen struggled for six hours to put out the fire while battling the
worst blizzard to hit the area in 65 years. Damage estimates ran as
high as $500,000.00.
Demolition of old walls and foundations and the clearing away of
debris began on August 29, 1938.
The new building was dedicated in September 1939 and throughout its
74 year history, the Masonic Building has been a landlord to
Montgomery Ward, Woolworth's, Ben Franklin, and Northern
Stationers.
The Masonic Association who owns and operates the building,
realized that two store fronts compromised of more than 60,000
square feet was no longer practical in light of the changing downtown
landscape. The renovation was not just about updating a beautiful old
building, but investing in the future growth and success of downtown
Marquette as well. We have been a part of this city's history for more
than 100 years and we plan to be here for several
hundred more.
The renovation involved transforming the building's two lower floors
into 30 separate retail and office spaces. A long-awaited feature was
the installation of a passenger elevator that connects 240 parking
spaces (public ramp) to Washington Street. source (
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