Masonic Temple Associations Struggle With The Future

Many Masonic Temple Associations have come upon hard times. Hamstrung by traditions, rules of the past, double digit cost increases and dwindling membership, Temple Associations are finding it impossible to maintain and run older historical Masonic Temples in todays world.

Often by the time the “Keepers” of the temple become aware of the situation, it’s almost too late. Often it takes years to get multi Lodge Temples to agree on by-law changes that will allow Temple Associations to put in place revenue generating opportunities.

It all starts when you begin to here statement like; “It’s a beautiful building. We’d hate to lose it or go anywhere else.”

A typical story goes something like this. In 1926, four Freemason lodges got together and built their temple. But, 83 years later, it’s expensive to keep open. Last winter, the heating alone was $40,000 from October to March. Dues from the four lodges and other groups that use the building use to pay for most of the upkeep.

But over the years as the number of members dwindled, the revenue to keep the build running started to go down. Finally it’s wasn’t enough to sustain the building anymore.

After much discussion and consternation the Temple Association receiving approval to offer the building for use by outside groups. The Temple Association began to supplement the dues from the Lodges and other Masonic groups by renting out the building, but the events weren’t rolling in because the use of liquor was not approved.

Three more years passed and it was obvious that the idea to rent the building out wasn’t working. In this last year alone, it was only rented 5 times.

Earlier this fall the Temple Association was faced with a tough decision. They had to either find a way to get enough money to keep it open or sell the building and move out. In desperate need, the four Lodges who owned the building finally stepped up with a business plan to make the building self-sustaining in one year.

The plan has several parts. One involved the lodges fronting $50,000 to get through this winter. The boilers were also worked on to make the heating more efficient and new thermostats were installed. Not only to make the building more comfortable when the building was in use, but also to save costs when the building wasn’t occupied. One of the largest expenses for the building is the heating.

The plan also limits Mason meeting nights to two nights a week to cut down on the number of days that need to be heated at a higher level.

Another big part of the plan to make the building viable involves increasing membership.

The lodges in this Masonic Temple were some of the first Freemason group in their Grand Lodge. One Lodge alone peaked around the 1940s and 1950s and had more than 700 members. That declined over the years to around 160 members ten years ago.

A few years ago, the lodge made a push toward recruiting new members and now membership is up to 185.

Every year for the past four or five years they’ve seen positive growth, meaning the new members offset the deaths in the lodge and in fact actually have increased membership.

The youngest member is 19 years old and the oldest is 96 years old. Each lodge within the Masonic Temple Association has set a goal to have 20 new members this year. To help achieve that goal, the Masonic Tempe Association made a radio commercial and advertised specific information through other media channels as well.

A number of open houses will be offered by each of the lodges over the next year and is aimed at answering questions potential new members may have. It also will give people a chance to take a tour of the building. If nothing else, it will satisfy the curiosity of the public at large. They drive by the building every day and never knew what was in there. This will allow the Lodges to showcase their building.

The hope is to attract members and event rentals. Since some renovations started, event booking have been increasing. The ballroom just got repainted and the lobby is in the process of a makeover. In the last ten days, seven people have toured the building and all seven booked their events.

“We’re seeing a vast increase in the number of people who are interested in renting the building,” Chairman of the Temple Association said.

The ballroom will seat 350 people and the mezzanine will hold another 180. It is a popular location for wedding receptions. The auditorium or Temple room is a good place for the wedding ceremony. It has 320 permanent seats and room to add floor seating. The social room, which has couches, televisions and pool tables, is also available to be rented.

One big change that’s helping the Masonic Temple fill up the event calendar is that it now allows functions to have alcohol. It was a long-time rule that no alcohol was allowed in a Masonic Temple. But three years ago, the Tempe Association petitioned their Lodges to get that changed.

The resolution was made with a trial period to get it passed. So far there’s never been an incident.

As of last year, the alcohol ban was lifted, and the future of the this Temple Association and it’s building looks promising.

Now that a plan is in place, it’s sure to succeed. The Freemasons will be here for many years to come.

The Masons are planning to have a grand re-opening ball in June 2010, similar to the original grand opening ball that was held when the building corner stone was laid.