GeorginaLodge.com
596 Renforth Dr M9C 2N5 Mississauga, ON, Canada

Calgary, Canada's historic 1928 downtown Freemasons Hall at 330 12th Avenue SW has officially gone up for sale. According to an article on the Real Estate News ...Exchange, the brethren can no longer afford the crippling taxes on the property. The eventual loss of this central temple will be a massive upheaval for Calgary's Masons. Nine lodges currently meet in Freemasons Hall's Blue Lodge Room and Red Lodge Room: Bow River 1; Perfection 9; Ashlar 28; Mount Lebanon 54; Zetland 83; Concord 124; Lodge Renefrew 134; and Calgary 230. It is also the home of the Grand Lodge of Alberta's offices, the Grand Lodge Library, the Calgary Valley of the Scottish Rite, and the Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. In addition, York Rite bodies meet in the upstairs Red Room. A large banquet hall in the basement can accommodate 300 people. Property taxes on the Calgary Freemasons Hall have skyrocketed - from CA$93,622 in 2015 to CA$158,150 in 2019. That's nearly a 70% increase in only four years, just for taxes alone. Brethren who live in municipalities, states, or countries where Masonic buildings are tax exempt never give these kinds of issues a second thought, but it's a very serious consideration for countless other lodges around the world. Calgary tax officials have valued the building at CA$8 million, but all of us know from long, bitter experience that it won't actually sell for that. Such is the voodoo of tax assessors. When their Freemasons Hall was built, the mayor was a Mason, countless local officials and community leaders were Masons, and so was a measurable proportion of the population. Now, I'll guarantee you that the mayor, the entire city council, and everyone in the tax assessor's office wouldn't have the slightest idea who the Masons are without resorting to Wikipedia. That's nobody's fault but our own. As sad as losing this temple will be when and if it sells, it's even sadder that it is unlikely to be replaced with a facility its equal. With extremely rare exceptions, Freemasons no longer build significant Masonic buildings anymore. Our days of proudly erecting landmark buildings that are worth preserving a century later are long gone. So when the fraternity gives these up, they are gone forever. That's practical in these days of shrinking membership, I know. But I don't think like an accountant, and never have. Economical steel pole barns in remote soybean fields have their uses, but not as Masonic temples that were designed to be bold, impressive, and at the center of their communities...(MORE AT LINK BELOW)

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Georgina Lodge 343 Installation