Masonic Temple - East Lansing, MI - Masonic Temples on Waymarking.com

This East Lansing Masonic Temple is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on March 29, 1999 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site on January 18, 2001.

From the State of Michigan historical marker at the temple:
Local Masons organized in 1915 and promptly hired Lansing architect Samuel D. Butterworth, a fellow Mason, to design a meeting hall. Butterworth rejected the practice of designing Masonic halls as elaborate classical temples, and instead blended simple Neoclassical detailing with elements of the popular Commercial style. Upon its completion in 1916, the Masonic Temple was one of only a few buildings in "downtown" East Lansing. The Masons sold the hall in 1986 and the interior was subsequently demolished. In 1998 the Chappelle Development Company purchased and rehabilitated the building as office and residential space. The Masonic Temple remains one of the city's important landmarks and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

From the Wikipedia article about Masonic Temple East Lansing:
The city of East Lansing grew explosively at the beginning of the twentieth century, alongside the growth of what is now Michigan State University. The Masonic Temple Association of East Lansing, Michigan was formed in 1915 by the local Masons, and immediately began plans to finance and construct a new Masonic Temple. They issued bonds to raise money, and hired Lansing architect Samuel Dana Butterworth to design the building and contractor Thomas Early and Sons to construct it. Construction was started early in 1916, and completed by October of the same year.

However, the Masons soon had trouble meeting their debt payments, an issue which reoccurred for the next few decades. The onset of the Great Depression exacerbated the issue, and the lodge refinanced the debt, which was finally paid off in 1948. However, lodge members soon expressed dissatisfaction with the location of the downtown location of the temple, and by the 1960s were discussing moving to a new building. The Masons moved out in the early 1980s, and sold the building in 1986.

In the late 1990s, the building was rehabilitated into apartments and office space. As of 2012, the building had been converted to residential and office use, and the local Masons meet in another building nearby.

MASONIC LODGES: LODGE Other: https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/aef37887-2cd8-4dde-90a0-2169dfebdc86?cache=1800 GRAND MASONIC LODGES: Not listed

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