Rundown Masonic temple bought to make way for Bemidji art center
The Watermark Art Center has purchased a century-old Masonic Temple in downtown Bemidji, and plans to knock it down to create a new downtown park.
An anonymous donor's gift of $250,000 allowed the center to buy the temple on the corner of 5th Street and Paul Bunyan Avenue, said Lori Forshee-Donnay, executive director of the art center. It will cover the purchase of the building, demolition and the cost of creating the park next to a former downtown grocery store that will become the art center's new home.
The art center, a non-profit which provides gallery space for local art shows and works to nurture the local art scene, will move from its current location in the city's old Carnegie library on Lake Bemidji.
Forshee-Donnay said the temple will be demolished later this winter, making way for a community park.
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"We're excited about what this will do for our project," she said, "being able to take programming outside, into this community green space."
The Masonic Temple, a three-story brick structure is one of only a few buildings left in Minnesota built specifically for Masons, by Masons. It features architectural elements for the group's ceremonies, including a number of trapdoors in the floor and a stairway inscribed with Masonic passages, according to Robert Saddoris, four-time Worshipful Master at Lodge 233.
Last winter, the building's boiler stopped working. Pipes froze, exploded, and filled the basement with water. Saddoris said large sections of the building were ruined by the freezing water.
"It would have cost $700,000 or more to fix everything," he said. "That's beyond anything we could do."
The custom Masonic elements will be lost, but Saddoris said the sale and impending demolition is a positive move for the organization. Bemidji's roughly 130 Masons now meet in a former Tae Kwon Do dojo south of town. It's in better shape, and has ramps for handicapped members.
He said the temple sold for a little less than $125,000.
The rest of the donated funds will be used to remove the significant asbestos, demolish the building and turn the ground into an attractive downtown park.
