Dayton Masonic Center Cornerstone Ceremony and Open House This Sunday 5/17

by Christopher Hodapp

Ohio's incredible Dayton Masonic Center is celebrating its 100 year anniversary. To commemorate the event, the Grand Lodge of Ohio will be performing a Cornerstone Ceremony this coming Sunday May 17, 2026 at 2PM. 

This will be the 100th anniversary of the dedication of its cornerstone in 1926, two years before the Crash hit the nation. It was a feat our own members today couldn't manage if our lives depended on it (and I can make an argument that they DO depend on it... but that's another discussion). 

The ground was broken on July 20th, 1925, the cornerstone was laid on May 19th, 1926, and the building was opened on April 1st, 1928.

This is a free event open to the public. There's no requirement to register before the event, but doing so at the link below will allow them to plan and make preparations accordingly.

https://www.daytonmasoniccenter.org/events/centennial-cornerstone-celebration-open-house-with-culture-works

If you've never visited this magnificent place and you're anywhere near central Ohio this weekend, make the opportunity to be there, because Masons are losing these massive Temples – built during the heady days between WWI and the Great Depression – every year. The Dayton center is really the last of its kind in the state of Ohio that's still in Masonic hands. 

The Center is located at 525 W. Riverview Avenue across from the Dayton Art Institute, in the Grafton Hill neighborhood. Some details are as follows:

May 17, 2026, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

2:00 - Reenactment of the Laying of the Cornerstone
2:30 - Welcome by MWB Johnson and Congressman Mike Turner
3:00 - Guests Welcomed into the building to explore the beautiful spaces
4:30 - Grand Finale - Schiewetz Auditorium 

Consider these sobering statistics: It was built by an association of 14 different Masonic lodges and related appendant organizations. Back in the day, Dayton Masons raised $1.5 million in just 7 seven days to finance the building's construction. It took nearly 3 years to complete, employing 450 workers and artisans (many of whom were Masons themselves) and would cost more than $40-million today. 

The Dayton Masonic Center has beautiful lodge rooms, York Rite rooms, and a lavish Scottish Rite 1,700-seat auditorium all under one roof, along with an impressive library, stunning lobbies and social rooms, a ballroom, and much more. Sitting on a commanding hillside overlooking the city and the Great Miami River, even the beautifully landscaped piece of property it sits on gives this temple a far more impressive presence than most urban Masonic buildings jammed into downtown areas have. 

It's truly worth going out of your way to see, and Sunday will be an ideal open house situation to wander the entire building and discover its many wonders for yourself. This Rooms will be open to explore with entertainment curated by Culture Works, a new event organizing partner for the Masonic Center. There will be food throughout the building, and beverages and libations will be served in various rooms. Various live performances will also take place throughout the building.

This event is just part of a $20 million campaign to continue upgrading and operating this stunning temple for the foreseeable future. Don't let it fall out of the hands of the fraternity! We lose these remaining buildings at our own peril, for we will never again even come close to competing with what came before us. As Masons flee places like this in favor of a tin shed in a soybean field, we vanish farther and farther from cultural the landscape of our communities. Yes, our forefathers should have set up foundations and long-range funding to be sure we could preserve them for future generations. But they didn't ask us to build better than they did – only to respect, repair and preserve what they already did for us. 

(H/T: Daniel Fry)

Reba McEntire's Restaurant in Former Oklahoma Masonic Temple

by Christopher Hodapp

I always knew Reba McIntyre was a lady of great esteem. 

Many years ago, back when the Earth cooled and dinosaurs ruled the world, I made TV commercials. One of our biggest clients was HH Gregg appliance stores, and some of our most enjoyable projects were for them. We made multiple (and VERY different) campaigns for them for many, many years.

One year, they decided to hire a celebrity spokesperson for a new campaign, and they chose country music superstar Reba McEntire to be on camera for a handful of TV spots. This meant that four times a year, Reba and her husband would fly to Indianapolis and we'd knock out the shooting in a day. What you saw on screen was the person you met behind the scenes; she was warm, funny, generous, and a pleasure to work with.

(That's me next to Reba during a location shoot, back when I weighed so much that I looked like three guys stuffed into a Chris Hodapp costume.)

What's the Masonic connection?

Photos: Reba's Place website

Turns out that Reba decided to go into the restaurant business several years ago and opened one in her birthplace, Atoka, Oklahoma, located about halfway between Tulsa and Dallas, and  inside the Choctaw Nation reservation. Reba's Place is downtown in a building that began life over a century ago as a Masonic Temple, at the northeast corner of Court and Pennsylvania streets.

Opened in 2023 in collaboration with the Choctaw Nation, Reba's Place features two stories of dining areas, an antique bar, memorabilia from Reba’s personal archives, and a stage that hosts live music. The menu is full of Southern classics. The library is filled with her mom's books from when she was growing up ("Momma never threw away a single book," she explains. Sounds like a household I know.)

Reba rescuing the Masonic Hall was very big news locally. Sleepy Atoka was a dying little down, just off Oklahoma Highway 75. An estimated 3,000 tourists a year were coming through town back in 2022; in the first two months of 2023 after the restaurant opened, more than a half-million out of town guests came through, most of whom who wanted to visit Reba's Place.

Reba will be making a live appearance at the restaurant on April 9th with a VERY small-scale version of her usual big-stage show. It's a rare chance to see her VERY close up and performing in an extremely intimate setting, compared to the massive events she usually does. If you'll be near the area, CLICK HERE for details.

So what about the building? 

Built in 1915, the Atoka Masonic hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was the long-time home of Ok-La-Ho-Ma Lodge No. 4, the oldest lodge in the state. (Atoka was also once the location of the Masonic Orphan's Home between 1908-1910.)  I don't know when the lodge moved out, but the building was used as a hospice for a while. 

Reba's and the old lodge are easy to spot - it's the only 3-story building in town, making it the most prominent place around. The Masons in 1915 wanted to make damned sure everyone knew  they were there, and Freemasonry was THE fraternal group to belong to. Even with the new Reba's Place signage, a cornice plaque still proclaims 'Masonic Temple,' and there are still three small stone medallions depicting a square and compass and Royal Arch symbol over the second-floor windows. 

While it's otherwise pretty plain looking outside, there were supposedly stained glass windows on the third floor, where I presume the actual meeting room was originally. Looking at construction photos of the restaurant, I see no Masonic symbolism of any kind left inside. The old hospice likely removed any of those years ago.

Just as a point of comparison, here is where the oldest lodge in Oklahoma meets today, about a mile and a half from the center of the town, where it once was central to the community. 

Google Maps

One casually wonders if their steel pole barn will one day be placed on the National Register as "architecturally significant." Or if another future celebrity will snap it up because of its unique charm, character and commanding location. 

"O!, but a lodge isn't a building, and a lodge can meet in a tent, and it's the INTERIOR, not the EXTERIOR that matters in Masonry, and there's great parking, and it's sure cheaper than maintaining some old place with a leaky roof, and..."

Going, Going... St. Louis Scottish Rite Cathedral

by Christopher Hodapp

The historic Scottish Rite Cathedral in St. Louis at Lindell Blvd and Olive Street was just listed for sale for $25 million. The Greek-Classical Cathedral was designed by prominent St. Louis architect William B. Ittner and built between 1921-1924 for $3.17 million (roughly $200 million today).

Ironic, since the Scottish Rite Valley of St. Louis just celebrated its 100th anniversary with a building rededication a year and a half ago.

The Cathedral has a 3,000-seat auditorium/theater, dining facilities seating up to 2,000 with a commercial kitchen, meeting rooms, galleries, terrazzo floors, ornamental ironwork, and even fireplaces. Sadly, however, I suspect the Cathedral's most attractive feature to modern developers is its 558-space multi-level parking garage.

The Valley of St. Louis wants to relocate operations to the suburbs of St. Louis County to be closer to current membership — a trend other Masonic bodies in the area followed decades ago. The urban Center's location no longer aligns as well with where most members live. And the membership is substantially smaller than it was in the 1920s. 

Once it's gone, I believe this will mean the Masons will have fled the downtown area completely. The Cathedral is quite literally right next door to the former home of St. Louis' most prosperous lodges, the 'New Masonic Temple' (that's what they called it), which sat on the market for many years. Parts of that mighty building were never finished due to the Great Depression, and the 14-story building included its own unfinished theater designed for 2,200 seats. At one point, the Temple was the home of former Grand Master Harry S Truman’s office. 

St. Louis' 'New Masonic Temple' was sold in 2018.

The Temple was sold back in November of 2018 to St. Louis investor Bryan Hayden, known for developing luxury apartments and condos. Construction of the 'New Masonic Temple' began in 1924, the year after the Cathedral opened, and it was dedicated in 1926. More than 10,000 people attended its opening ceremonies back then, and these two gigantic monuments to the fraternity side by side made a formidable sight in the city.

Our forebears designed and created stately and magnificent temples because they wanted the world and their own members to know that great men had entered their doors, and that great things went on inside of them. Sadly, an abandoned temple is a symbol that the Masons who once inhabited it gave up.

Soon, there will be little left of a Masonic presence downtown in this great city on the Mississippi, apart from a stone monument erected in memory of Freemasons Meriwether Lewis and William Clark who departed here on their expedition of the Louisiana Purchase territory two centuries ago.

UPDATE: A Brother now informs me that the Lewis & Clark stone was removed to the suburbs, as well, several years ago...

All photos: Chris Hodapp

Atlanta's Historic Prince Hall Temple Reopens After $14 Million Renovation

Photo: W.C. Thomas Lodge 112 Facebook Page

by Christopher Hodapp

The Atlanta Prince Hall Masonic Temple, a center of African American Freemasonry and civil rights history, just reopened on February 11th after a whopping $14 million renovation.

The Atlanta temple was built between 1937 and 1941 under the guidance of John Wesley Dobbs, a powerhouse civic leader who was basically the unofficial mayor of Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood. Dobbs was elected Grand Master of the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia in 1932, and re-elected annually until his death in 1961. This place wasn't just a lodge hall; it was a buzzing hub for black enterprise and activism.

In its heyday, the building housed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) starting in 1957—their very first headquarters. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had his only known office there, a windowless little spot where he plotted strategy and dreamed big. The National Parks Service has made the Temple part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, and, using photos of King's office as a guide, will eventually restore the room to appear as it did in the 1960s.

Upstairs, you'd find WERD-AM 860, the nation's first black-owned radio station, where DJs like "Jockey Jack" Gibson spun records and dropped civil rights updates. And there was Madam C.J. Walker's Beauty Shoppe—an enterprise of America's first self-made female millionaire (whose company was based in my own hometown of Indianapolis). During the 1960s, when segregation battles made safe gathering spots scarce, this temple was where black leaders could meet without looking over their shoulders. Legends say King even did radio interviews by dangling a phone out the window to the station below. 

The restored ballroom

But like so many historic gems, the temple fell on hard times as Sweet Auburn faced disinvestment and urban decay. It landed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "11 Most Endangered Places" list back in the '90s, and by the 2010s, it needed serious attention. Enter a powerhouse partnership: The Trust for Public Land teamed up with the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia, Invest Atlanta, the National Park Service, and generous donors like the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the Georgia Pacific Foundation. Starting in 2022, they poured in the cash—$10 million for the core reno, plus a fresh $1.4 million grant from billionaire philanthropist Robert Smith to jazz it up with immersive exhibits.

A newly renovated social room for the lodges.
Photo: W.C. Thomas Lodge 112 Facebook Page 

The result is a 16,000-square-foot space that's been lovingly restored to blend old-school charm with modern flair. They matched paint colors to vintage photos, reinstalled the iconic WERD sign, replaced its deteriorated green window frames, and restored the neon Prince Hall Masons sign out front to beckon visitors. The Masons get to keep the top floor for their meetings and events. The rest is now primed for public tours, education, and interpretation as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, which it officially joined in 2018. With over a million visitors flocking to the park each year, this addition is set to shine a light on the intertwined stories of Freemasonry, civil rights, and black community resilience.

Photo: W.C. Thomas Lodge 112 Facebook Page 

At the ribbon-cutting, heavy hitters like Prince Hall Grand Master Primus James, Invest Atlanta CEO Dr. Eloisa Klementich. Atlanta historian Reverend Dr. Herman “Skip” Mason, Dr. Kevin James, President of Morris Brown College and Arthur Clement, who is one of PGM John Wesley Dobbs’ grandsons, were there. And Martin Luther King III and Park Superintendent Reggie Chapple both weighed in on why this matters. King III put it best: Preserving places like this helps "institutionalize the dream" of his parents and avoid repeating history's mistakes.

Speaking of history’s mistakes, in a world where historic Masonic buildings all too often get sold off, bulldozed for parking lots, or just ignored to death and left to crumble (I'm looking at you, way too many jurisdictions), it's refreshing to see one get the royal treatment it deserves occasionally.

If you're in Atlanta or planning a Masonic road trip, add this to your list. It's not just a building—it's a testament to how Freemasonry has been a quiet force for progress, especially in communities that needed it most.

Maybe it'll inspire a few more lodges to dust off their own histories before we let them fade away.

(Thanks to Br. Dave Gillarm at the Prince Hall Think Tank podcast for alerting me on this story.)

Georgia's Solomon Lodge No. 1 Selling Their Historic Home

Photo: Chris Hodapp

by Christopher Hodapp

It was with great sadness I read this week that the landmark Cotton Exchange in downtown Savannah, Georgia is up for sale. Since 1976, it’s been the historic home of the equally historic Solomon’s Lodge No. 1, the oldest operating lodge in the state of Georgia, founded in 1734. Or as they say in their own history, “the oldest continuously operating English constituted lodge in the Western Hemisphere.” 

Photo: Chris Hodapp

The Old Savannah Cotton Exchange was designed by the Boston architect William Gibbons Preston (1844-1910), and completed in 1886. It’s now on the market for $10 million, and it’s likely to fetch that eye-popping pile of pelf, as it sits on the waterfront in Savannah’s most historic (and tourist-packed) area of an already very historic town.

The Savannah Morning News site had an extensive series of interior photos of the building and lodge room last Sunday, taken by photographer Richard Burkhart. Most residents in the area have never been inside of the old Cotton Exchange, much less a Masonic Lodge, so it’s been drawing a big crowd of curious readers eager to have a peek. Click images below to enlarge.

Photo: ©Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Photo: ©Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Photo: ©Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Photo: ©Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Photo: ©Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Photo: ©Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Photo: ©Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Past Master Jeremy Norton is quoted as saying their dwindling membership, combined with several "unfortunate incidents" has made the aging landmark too much of a financial burden for the lodge to handle, a familiar story that plays out with lodges all around the world every day. (I do know that a car crashed into the facade of the building back in 2008.) Listing agent David Mopper says potential buyers have already been lining up, as a potential restaurant, wedding venue, or private club. 

Yes, I realize that a lodge is not its building. Yes, I realize that a lodge can meet in a tent and doesn’t need some lavish old temple whose leaky roof and bad plumbing bleeds the treasury dry. Yes, I very much realize that the upkeep of an aging building - especially one that’s a historic landmark - is more often than not a fatiguing financial burden.

I don’t know the particulars as to why they’re moving, but I'm sure there's a clot of brethren in the lodge and around the state who are extremely unhappy about this development. No matter where Solomon’s Lodge moves, it can never equal what they have in their current location. You can’t buy the kind of heritage they are giving up, at any price.

In 1934, the lodge celebrated its 200th anniversary. To mark that event, Bro. Lafayette McLaws, Past Master of Solomon's Lodge, spoke some incredibly profound words. He said, 

“Age itself does not call for veneration, antiquity alone does not merit adoration, the passage of time is not the test of fame; a million years does not give glory to a worthless cause, nor sanctify an unholy name. It is the use of time, the purpose of the origin, the beauty woven in the design, the service written in the plan that builds monuments and creates hallowed shrines. I revere Solomon's not for its age, but for its progress, for the service that it has rendered mankind, for its uplifting influence in the political upheavals; for two centuries of activity in the interest of free thought, free speech and free conscience; for the continuity of its opposition to mental tyranny; its championship of human liberty. I commemorate the founding of Solomon's Lodge because it gave to the new Colony of Georgia, the institution of Masonry."

There is great wisdom in those nuggets of gold spoken by Bro. McLaws. On the one hand, the importance of Solomon’s Lodge is what it has accomplished since its founding in 1734, and, after all, its current home has only been their meeting place for 50 years. On the other hand, architectural treasures like the Old Cotton Exchange have incredible beauty woven in their design. And, given its prominence in Savannah's historic boardwalk area, it has been a standing billboard for Freemasonry for half a century, a magnificent beacon for all of us that says, “the Masons are here, and we are a vital piece of the fabric that makes our community.” Hundreds - and sometimes, thousands - of people walk past its historic marker and facade every single day.

I don’t know what Solomon's Lodge's plans are, but I pray they find an equally important and visible new location, and that they not settle for an anonymous steel pole barn in a bean field. (I will go out on a limb and speculate that they might move to the Savannah Valley of the Scottish Rite's new center, three miles from downtown, in an office park. Just a guess.) While the Masons of Savannah didn't build this particular edifice themselves, the fraternity gives up our most treasured temples to our collective detriment. Every high-visibility temple that gets sold off means we slip farther and farther off of society's radar screen and disappear from the collective consciousness of the community. And we rob our members of a heritage no lodge can reclaim when it just gives up. 

Our forefathers built or bought these priceless temples with the sweat of their brow, with money most of them desperately needed for themselves, because they believed in shouting about their fraternity to the world outside. (It took Savannah's Masons more than thirty years to complete their first historic Scottish Rite Temple as they raised money and slowly erected it.) They didn't ask us to be greater than they were, or to even build bigger or better than they did. They just asked us to protect what they did for us. 

Scottish Rite Valley of Savannah's new building (Photo: Google)

Inspiration was important to Freemasons up until the late 20th century. What will Masonic architecture of today inspire the next generations to say when you and I are gone? 

"Great parking!"

And are Masons really going to continue to accept mediocrity and bland steel toolshed temples under the lazy excuse that "a lodge is not a building?"

Where be our Dreamers now?

He's Back – Pike Statue Restored in Washington DC

Photo: Fox News

by Christopher Hodapp - (Revised 10/30/2025, 2:00AM)

The bronze statue of Scottish Rite sage Albert Pike has been restored by the National Parks Service and put back in place in Judiciary Square in Washington, D.C. after being defaced and toppled during George Floyd-related protests in 2020. The restoration was carried out by the NPS under President Trump's executive orders on "Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful" and "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History."

In a statement, the NPS said, "The restoration aligns with federal responsibilities under historic-preservation law and recent executive orders to beautify the nation’s capital and restore pre-existing statues."

Pike was originally placed in this general vicinity across the street from the original Supreme Council headquarters of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite - Southern Jurisdiction in 1901. He lived in the building for many years and the statue was erected to honor his scholarship and long leadership within the fraternity of Freemasonry.

Pike's statue was considered controversial by some because he was compelled by Southern leaders to serve for just five months in the Confederate Army when he lived in Arkansas. But despite press accounts and inflammatory rhetoric to the contrary, this was never a 'confederate statue.' It celebrated his lifetime of accomplishments, prominently highlighting his scholarship in the Scottish Rite. The only reference to his military record appears in the list of his achievements: 'author, poet, scholar, soldier, jurist, orator, philanthropist and philosopher.' And calling him a soldier arguably covers his time in the 1840s spent fighting for the United States in the Mexican American War far more than his time in the Confederate Army. The sculpture does not depict him in a military uniform, nor is he seen even wearing a sword. Instead, he holds in his hand a copy of his masterwork, Morals and Dogma, a vast volume of philosophy, religious ideas, and Masonic idealism.

In previous times, statues were erected to people we called heroes because they were considered role models who accomplished great things, in spite of their flaws. Men like Albert Pike were unique, and he was certainly far greater than the brief episode at the Battle of Pea Ridge, a job he neither sought nor really wanted. And after Pike's Indian troops scalped their Union soldier captives in violation of his orders, he resigned his commission in disgust and went back to practicing law. As for allegations that he was involved in the creation of the post-Civil War Ku Klux Klan, such charges have never been proved by any evidence. Anyone who believes he wrote the KKK's original ceremonial rituals needs to compare them to Pike's actual rituals he created for the Scottish Rite. There is no similarity whatsoever in style or vocabulary.

When H. B. F. McFarland, President of the District Commission, accepted the Pike memorial from the Scottish Rite on behalf of the American people at the 1901 dedication, he addressed Pike's stint in the Confederate Army, saying:

"Although Albert Pike was a soldier in the Civil War, this statue will commemorate him rather as a victor in the honorable rivalries of peace. It is well that you thus add to the comparatively small number of statues in the city of Washington that honor the victories of peace rather than of war."

TempleLive Abruptly Closes; Operated Former Masonic Temples in Four Cities

by Christopher Hodapp

A bold vision to try and save historic Masonic temples has tragically failed, apparently. Or at least struck a sizeable reef. News sources in Cleveland, Ohio reported last week that TempleLive, the company operating the Cleveland Masonic Temple and several other landmark Masonic theater venues, seems to have folded. Shows have been canceled, performers have been unable to get responses, and the company isn't answering phone calls. The company website is also down. 

If they really have folded, it's a sad setback for the historic Masonic temples in Cleveland, and Columbus, Ohio, along with Wichita in Kansas, and Ft. Smith in Arkansas, all recently renovated by TempleLive to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. But TempleLive wasn't owned or affiliated with the two or three mega-promotion companies that monopolize the concert business in the U.S. Squeezed out of the most lucrative acts in show business, they have fallen into the economic reality of trying to do things independently.

Cleveland Masonic Temple

The company was started several years ago by Lance Beaty's Beaty Capital Group and Rob Thomas, who had two goals for their venture. One was to preserve, renovate and operate theaters, specifically in endangered Masonic halls. Like so many of us, they realized these incredible, one of a kind temples built by our brethren a century or more ago needed to find new life in order to be saved from the wrecking ball. Their secondary notion was to serve smaller towns outside of the usual lineup of big cities for touring music, theater, comedy and other entertainment acts. Their first purchase was the 1928 Fort Smith Masonic Temple, and all of the venues they took over had large stages and auditoriums built originally for fraternal productions. Our forefathers also intended for these beautiful theaters to be used by their communities, not just a couple of annual events for Masons only.

Fort Smith Masonic Temple

An extended story in Crain's Cleveland Business on Monday quoted an Arkansas interview with the company's founder, Lance Beaty, who placed a lot of blame on being in independent concert promotor in a world dominated by a few massive, monopolistic corporations who control the business:

BCG CEO Lance Beaty told Arkansas news outlet Talk Business & Politics (TB&P) over the weekend that TempleLive operations are being shuttered in short order. This follows Beaty previously indicating just a few days prior that owners were looking at ways to keep the concert promoter going.

“We determined it was best to be definitive so the decision was made to pull down the remaining shows,” Beaty told the outlet.
Beaty cast blame on a mix of factors for TempleLive’s apparent struggles, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and a ticketing system that can put independent promoters at a disadvantage. 

“We are simply an outsider in an insider’s business,” Beaty told TB&P. “No matter how much money you throw at it or how creative you think you are, if you’re not on the inside, you’re not in.”

The Columbus Athenaeum was built in 1899 as a Masonic temple. 

After an expansion in 1913, it was claimed to be the largest specifically-Masonic building in America (a mantle that was soon surpassed in the fraternal building craze of the 1920s).

Wichita Scottish Rite

The article continued:

According to the 2025 State of Live report from the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), 64% of indie venues did not turn a profit in 2024.
“Their survival is threatened by inflation, monopolistic pressures, and predatory ticket resale practices,” NIVA writes. “Yet their economic footprint is vast, their community impact is undeniable, and their importance to the national economy is backed by hard data.”

A debt collection complaint has been filed against BCG by Arkansas’ Partners Bank for an alleged default on a $1.5 million line of credit, according to Phillips County Circuit Court records. That related promissory note was signed in October 2023 and matured on May 2, 2025.

BCG established its TempleLive subsidiary upon acquiring and renovating a Masonic temple in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 2017. This set a blueprint for TempleLive for purchasing similar Masonic auditoriums in other markets, improving them and opening them as concert and event venues.

As it expanded, TempleLive’s footprint grew to include additional venues in Cleveland and Columbus as well as Peoria, Illinois and Wichita, Kansas.
The Masonic Auditorium at 3669 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland was purchased by TempleLive in March 2017 for $725,000, according to county property records. In the years since, upwards of $14 million has been pumped into renovating the space over at least a couple of phases of redevelopment. Plans at the site also at one time included a vision for a massive adjacent hotel, the project for which was estimated to be around at least $60 million.