Marshalltown Masonic Temple Damaged By Tornado

Marshalltown Masonic Temple 

More than 25 separate tornadoes blasted through the Midwest on Thursday, hitting several towns across Iowa. The communities of Pella and Bondurant, Iowa both sustained major damage, and downtown Marshalltown was also hit.

The Marshalltown Masonic Temple was damaged in the storm. The temple is home to Marshalltown Lodge No. 108, plus York Rite bodies, an Eastern Star Chapter, and a High Twelve Club. 

Brethren at Marshalltown Lodge have posted the following reports on their Facebook page:

We've been asked how we fared. In comparison to other buildings in the downtown, it could have been worse. All our windows along the south and west are broken and the beautiful cornice along the south wall roofline is gone. As far as interior damage, we will have to see. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for residents of Marshalltown's northside and the businesses of the historic downtown.

On Friday came this plea:

Please share! If Iowa Masonic brothers are available, we need help boarding up all the windows and other such labor. With the power outage the elevators are out of commission and everything needs to be taken up the stairs.

Now on Saturday came this update:

After taking care of the storm situation at her own home and getting her car out of the garage yesterday, the office manager got inside the Temple this morning and took some photos. The electricity is on (but not yet at her house). The smell of freshly cut plywood, which covers most of the windows here, is quite noticeable. Department of Corrections has quite a bit of cleaning up needed in its offices while the law firm is almost done. The Masonic office only received damage to the storm windows, but there is no phone, Internet or cable service in that office. The hardest hit rooms were the dining hall and kitchen, where six of the nine windows were broken and the wind could swirl freely. Thankfully there was little rain involved.

No reports of fatalities or injuries within the Masonic community that I have been able to encounter as of Saturday 1:30PM. Please notify me if anyone has any news regarding Masons in Marshalltown, or any of the other towns that were hit on Thursday.

Meanwhile, this: