In 1911, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Lawrence, Kansas, yielded a Masonic job.” The scenery and stage machinery were similar to that installed at Scottish Rite theaters in Wichita, Kansas, Winona and St. Paul, Minnesota, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Grand Forks, North Dakota, Tucson, Arizona, and the list goes on. Although smaller in scope than some of the other scenery collections, the same counterweight system (Brown’s Special system) was installed, with the lines spaced on four-inch centers. Like many other Scottish Rite Valleys in the first two deacdes of the twentieth century, funds were pouring in and men with vision planned massive edifices to accommodate the ever-increasing membership. Unfortunately, this period of unprecedented growth often meant that no plans were in place for extended periods of membership decline or financial challenges.
Ninety-two years later, the building was on the market, citing those two exact issues. It was one of the early Scottish Rite theaters to change hands, signaling the start of a shift within the Southern Jurisdiction. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Kansas Scottish rite was riding the crest of expansion in the Southern Jurisdiction. They were at the forefront of a new movement as Scottish Rite theaters and degree productions spread like rapidfire. In 1911, there were seven Scottish Rite Valleys in Kansas, located in Kansas City, Fort Scott, Salina, Topeka, Lawrence, Wichita, and Leavenworth. In 1919, the “Lawrence Daily Journal-World” reported, “Largest Class in History” (28 January 1919, page 1). The article noted, “With the addition of more candidates for the Scottish Rite degrees, the mid-winter class now being conducted thorugh the mysteries of higher Masonry, has now become the largest class in the history of the Lawrence Scottish Rite bodies. There are now 119 candidates in the class.” This was a new trend, adding a mid-winter reunion to the standard fall and spring schedule. The need to add an additional reunion each year to accommodate increased numbers of candidates shows how rapidly the Scottish Rite Rite was expanding in, Kansas. The “Fort Scott Tribune,” reported “The four bodies of Scottish Rite Masonry have just adopted plans for a reunion which will be somewhat a deviation from former reunions and an innovation in Masonry. A midwinter reunion is to be held next year, the dates being February 12, 13 and 14th” (Fort Scott Tribune, 19 Dec. 1911, page 6).
Almost a century later, Kansas was again riding the crest of another Scottish Rite wave – one of declining membership, lost properties and missing artifacts. In May 2003, the Scottish Rite building was placed on the market. So what happened in Kansas?
In 2003, LJWorld.com posted the following article to the Lawrence Journal World website (https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/may/14/landmark_sheds_its/):
“A LAWRENCE LANDMARK IS FOR SALE
Faced with aging membership and ever-increasing costs, Lawrence-area Freemasons have decided to sell the majestic Scottish Rite Temple, 1001 Mass.
“This isn’t something that any of us want to do. It hurts,” said Tom Wilkerson, the organization’s executive secretary. “But we’ve projected out the costs of operations, and we know we can’t continue to draw on our resources like we have. It has to be done.”
THE ASKING PRICE: $775,000.
The buyer will have the option of also buying the buildings that house the Scottish Rite office and the Variety Store at 1005 and 1007 Mass., respectively.
‘We’ll entertain any proposal received,’ Wilkerson said. [my thought: bad move to put that in print].
Built in 1911, the Egyptian Revival-style building features several meeting rooms, a 275-seat auditorium and balcony, and, in the basement, a dining room that’s 55 feet wide and a half-block long.
A kitchen, too, is downstairs in an area carved out from underneath the sidewalk alongside the north side of the building. The building does not have an elevator.
Suspended above the auditorium’s stage are 55 backdrops — each painted long ago by art students from Kansas University — that are raised or lowered in accordance with the particular Scottish Rite ceremony being performed.
“We’ll keep those,” Wilkerson said.
GENERATING INTEREST
The building is listed with Coldwell Banker McGrew Real Estate.
“There’s been quite a bit of interest in it,” said Doug Brown, the Realtor assigned to the property. “The fact that the building has historic significance and that it’s on Mass. is quite a draw for investors.”
Brown said the building was “incredibly well-built” and could be converted to a variety of uses.
“The upstairs, maybe, could be turned into apartments; the downstairs to retail,” he said. “It would be a great place for receptions.”
“Or an upscale restaurant,” said Carol vonTersch, president of the Lawrence Preservation Alliance. “There’s been talk of that in the past, but, at the time, the Masons weren’t ready to sell.”
The Alliance, vonTersch said, hoped to work with whoever buys the building.
“It’s a very important building in the downtown area. People remember that building,” she said. “We’re exceedingly concerned about what’s to happen to it, I can assure you of that.”
It’s not yet known where the Masons will go after the building is sold.
“A committee has been appointed that’ll make that decision,” Wilkerson said. “A lot of it’s going to depend on whether the buyer wants the buildings next door. If they don’t, we’ll probably move into where The Variety Store is now; if they do, we’ll either buy a building or build something new.”
OLD
Wilkerson said about 500 men and women belong to the masonic lodges and auxiliaries that use the temple. Most are unable to attend the monthly meetings.
“Our mean age is 66,” he said of the membership. “That’s pretty old.”
Wilkerson attributed the decline in membership to lackluster recruiting and increased demands on members’ time.
“It’s a sad thing to say, but being in a fraternal organization takes away from a person’s family time and, over the years, that’s just gotten harder and harder to do,” he said. “All the service organizations are going through the same thing.” [my thought: not a great advertisement to join].
Wilkerson says the Mason’s reputation for secrecy far exceeds reality.
“Actually, we kind of joke about that,” he said. “Our meetings are closed, that’s true. But if somebody really wanted to know what was going on, they could just go to the library. Books have been written about it.”
Wilkerson said there’s nothing secret about the building. “We rent it out for receptions and things,” he said. “And before we decided to sell, we’d talked about opening it up to public for tours or ham-and-bean lunches.”
On June 24, 2005, the same newspaper reported that the Lawrence-area Scottish Rite Freemasons were saying goodbye to their 94-year old building and holding an open house and formal relocation ceremony at the new Lawrence Masonic Center, at 1601 W 23rd St., citing, “The 5,500-square-foot store-front-style space is more practical and cheaper to lease and operate than the old building at 1001 Mass., which was purchased by Lawrence developer Doug Compton.” The article noted, “Local Freemasons are hoping the new building and new look will help attract younger men to the organization.” Now, I don’t know about you, but meeting in a shopping mall would not necessarily be any incentive for me to join the Fraternity, but then, I am not potential candidate material. Here is the link to the full article: https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/jun/24/freemasons/
Of the new location, the “Lawrence Journal-World” reported, “Their new building features an entrance that leads into a commons or reception area, complete with a conference table and chairs. Nearby is a large room that can be used for dinners and banquets. There is a library, a storage room and a large meeting room near the back with a skylight over the venerable master’s chair at one end of the room. The building will serve as a meeting place for 362 Scottish Rite members with several Lawrence-area Masonic orders. It was chosen after attempts to find a suitable building that could be purchased failed. ‘We were going to buy, but everything was so expensive,’ said Danny Keller, the assistant personal representative for Lawrence Valley. ‘We had a lot of problems, so we just decided to lease for a few years.’
When I visited Lawrence last summer, we drove by the Masonic Center, now just down the street from the previous shopping mall location. It remainded me of the many pole barns that store tractors in the Midwest. For an organization that often links its history to the operative masons and cathedral builders of Europe, it is a little embarrassing to see the Scottish Rite eagle on a small window surrounded metal siding. I was unable to venture inside, but there was no indication of a theater or fly tower in sight. When Wilkerson explained that the Scottish Rite was going to retain the 55 drops from the old temple, I have to wonder where they are now.
For additional history about the Lawrence Scottish Rite, see my past post, “Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Part 621 – Meanwhile in Lawrence, Kansas” (https://drypigment.net2019/01/20/tales-from-a-scenic-artist-and-scholar-part-621-meanwhile-in-lawrence-kansas/).
To be continued…
