The Masonic Temple, Brisbane is a heritage-listed masonic temple located at 311 Ann Street, Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia.
History
Lange Powell was one of the sixteen architects elected to submit designs for the proposed Masonic Temple and in 1924, the plans were analyzed and before December 1927 plans for the Temple had been prepared by the Grand Architect, Lange L. Powell. He was then a member of the firm Atkinson, Powell and Conrad.
Tenders were called on 12 March 1928 but the plans were drastically modified. The construction of the Masonic Temple commenced in May 1928. The total cost of the project summed up to £130,000 which included £7,000 for the land and £10,000 for furniture. Although the cost of the project was considered somewhat high, it was constructed to be able to take three more floors when this became necessary.
Description
The Masonic Template is a four storey building built in the Classical Revival style. It is constructed of reinforced concrete, brick, stone and marble.
Externally, the building is faced in sandstone and is classical in design. The base is in grey granite. At the front of the building, there are six Corinthian columns, each five feet in diameter at the base. The position of the entrance door is rather unfortunate as it cuts into the columns rather than coming between them. The entrance floor is in marble mosaic and this leads to a circular shrine surrounded by Doric columns and the floor pattern is star shaped with an urn of remembrance mounted on a black marble base in the centre of the floor. The offices, library and museum open off the circular vestibule. Two marble staircases lead to the upper floors. The handrail is timber supported on an attractive wrought iron balustrade and the corridors have parquetry floors. There are four lodge rooms on the first floor with corresponding supper rooms above.
The Grand Hall occupies almost all of the third (top) floor and is reputed to be the finest of its kind in Australia. The organ chamber claims twenty eight feet of this floor space and in front of it is a gallery seating twenty two choir members. The hall seats one thousand two hundred people. The walls have been rendered and given a sand float to give the appearance of sand stone. The interior wall decoration is simple, but there is a beautifully curved vaultedcoffered ceiling lightly decorated in blue and gold. It is used for many masonic ceremonies including Grand Installations.
The furniture throughout is Silky Oak, maple and Cedar from Queensland.
The pipe organ was supplied by Messrs. B.B. Whitehouse and company.
Heritage listing
The temple was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992
Date retrieved: 4 November 2017 06:38 UTC
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William Herbert Green (11 October 1878 – 18 March 1968) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.
Biography
Green was born in Brisbane, Queensland, the son of Charles Green, ironfounder, and his wife Eliza (née Vaughan). After his father became a partner in a Mackay foundry in 1881, he was educated at Mackay State School and completed his schooling at the Way Methodist College in Adelaide. He was apprenticed in 1896 to Townsville pharmacist, Cromwell Ridgley before attending the Queensland College of Pharmacy in Brisbane in 1901. He then returned to Townsville and bought Ridgley's business and by 1914 owned four chemists. By 1920 W. H. Green Ltd owned eight chemists across Northern Queensland and eventually the company controlled sixteen pharmacies but the Pharmacy Act of 1933 requiring professional managers forced the company to disband.
Later in life Green was chairman of the Equitable Probate and General Insurance Co. Ltd and the Indooroopilly Toll Bridge Co.. He was also a director of the Atlas Insurance Company and Busby's Ltd. During World War One Green served for three and a half months on Thursday Island as sergeant-compounder with the Kennedy Regiment of the Citizen Forces.
On 29 October 1903 in Townsville Green married Clara Cockerill in Townsville and together had two sons and three daughters. Clara died in 1930 and three years later he married Clara's sister, Frances Gertude Cockerill (died 1939) in Brisbane. His final marriage was to Georgina Singleton on 4 October 1948 in Glasgow while on a visit to Scotland. He died in Brisbane in March 1968 and was buried in the Toowong Cemetery.
Public career
Green was an alderman on the Townsville City Council and became the city's mayor in 1920, holding the title for three years. He won the seat of Townsville for the Northern Country Party at the 1920 Queensland state election, defeating the sitting Labor member, Daniel Ryan. He held the seat for three years before his defeat at the 1923 Queensland state election to the Labor candidate, Maurice Hynes.
Like his father, Green was a Methodist lay-preacher for over 55 years and the superintendent of a Sunday school for thirty-five years. He was also the treasurer of the Methodist King's College at the University of Queensland for 25 years and a foundation member and president of the interdenominational Queensland Council of Churches. He was a lifelong supporter of the temperance movement. In 1940 was the treasurer of the Queensland Temperance League and in 1965 was its chairman and represented Australia at international temperance conferences.
Green was also a Freemason, joining in 1905 and went on to become the district grand master of North Queensland in 1922 and state grand master in 1929-30 and 1932-33. In 1931 and 1935-45 he was pro-grand master under the governor. He was appointed O.B.E. in 1958 for his numerous church projects, charitable works and donations.
Date retrieved: 4 November 2017 06:54 UTC
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The sign says:
This Masonic Temple was opened and dedicated by William Herbert Green M. W. Grand Master 01th Dec 1930