Spokane’s Masonic Center sells for $1.1 million
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 47° 39.523 W 117° 25.671
11T E 467874 N 5278457
This is a huge and beautiful Classical Style Masonic Temple in downtown Spokane. The temple stands directly across the street from Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Cathedral.
Waymark Code: WMTXW0
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 01/20/2017
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member saopaulo1
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4. The Masonic Building
(open 9-5 weekdays, evenings by appointment), 1108 Riverside Ave., follows the curve of the street, thus giving prominence to its colonnaded façade. Designed by Rigg and Cantyne in the Classical style, it has 18 columns of the Roman-Corinthian order, supporting a stone-railed promenade that extends the length of the building. At both ends of the promenade are stone tripods, and from these, on ceremonial occasions, vapors rise, tinted by colored lights. Busts of Senmut, an Egyptian builder of temples, flank the entrances.
Washington: a guide to the Evergreen state - (1941)Page 257

This just in:
As of November 1st 2013, the historic Masonic Temple building, located at 1108 West Riverside Avenue, has been acquired by a locally owned private investment company.© 2013 Spokane Masonic Center

The news story concerning the transaction, from the Spokane Spokesman-Review, can be read in part below.

Now privately owned, it will, after reopening, be known as the "Riverside Event Center". Outwardly, it is otherwise unchanged from when it was built in 1903, with President Theodore Roosevelt performing the ground-breaking ceremony. At the Freemasons' website it is, as of this date, still listed as "Eastern Washington Lodge of Research No. 310".
Spokane’s Masonic Center
sells for $1.1 million
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6, 2013
By Tom Sowa
An Australian businessman who moved to Spokane five years ago has paid $1.1 million to take over ownership of the stately Masonic Center, one of the city’s largest and oldest meeting places.

The buyer is Greg Newell, 50, who’s president of equipment manufacturing firm Power Handling Inc. This week Newell and some family partners bought the 108-year old Masonic Center at 1108 W. Riverside Ave. The 110,000-square-foot building has been for sale since October 2012.

Newell said he envisions using the neoclassical white-stone building as a meeting center and event venue. He also hopes to hire people to manage events or run restaurants inside the building. The grand plan, he added, is to make the revamped Masonic building a centerpiece for an “old town” tourist and visitor area in downtown Spokane.

Newell’s investor group becomes just the second owner in the building’s history. Since completion of construction in 1905, the Masonic Center – originally the Masonic Temple – has been occupied by the Masonic order and several affiliated fraternal groups, including the Scottish Rite and the York Rite.

In recent years the nonprofit Masonic Temple Association of Spokane rented its various ballrooms and meeting places to area groups and schools for events, proms and other celebrations. The association has depended on donations from the Masonic Foundation of Spokane to cover the building’s costs.

“But we’ve outlived the building,” said Carlton Oaks, the association’s CEO, meaning Spokane’s Masonic groups have a fraction of the membership they enjoyed during the first half of the 20th century. After the temple was built, U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt visited it twice.
Read more at the Spokane Spokesman-Review
Type of publication: Newspaper

When was the article reported?: 11/06/2013

Publication: Spokane Spokesman-Review

Article Url: [Web Link]

Is Registration Required?: no

How widespread was the article reported?: regional

News Category: Business/Finance
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