Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple

The Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple (French: Temple maçonnique de Montréal) is a historic masonic temple in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on the corner of Sherbrooke Street and St. Marc Street, in the Golden Square Mile district. Dedicated and officially opened June February 12, 1930, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2001, as an example of one of Canada’s most elegant buildings in the Beaux-Arts style.[1][2][3]

Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple
French: Temple maçonnique de Montréal
Montreal Masonic Memorial Temple
Alternative namesGrand Lodge of Quebec
French: Grande loge du Québec
General information
StatusOperational
Architectural styleBeaux-Arts
LocationDowntown Montreal
Address2295 St. Marc Street and 1805 Sherbrooke Street West
Town or cityMontreal, Quebec
CountryCanada
Coordinates45.494645°N 73.582982°W / 45.494645; -73.582982
Current tenantsVarious Masonic Lodges, Julien-Leblanc Traiteur and Centre De La Petite Enfance Genesis 87
Construction started1929
Completed1930
InauguratedJune 22, 1929
OwnerMasonic Foundation of Quebec
LandlordMasonic Foundation of Quebec
Height
Top floor7
Technical details
Lifts/elevators2
Design and construction
ArchitectJohn Smith Archibald
Awards and prizesRoyal Architectural Institute of Canada First Award, Class I, Monumental Buildings
Designated2001
Patrimoine culturel du Québec
TypeImmeuble patrimonial classé
Designated2012

History
Main door of the Grand Lodge of Quebec flanked by the columns Boaz and Jachin.

The Masonic Memorial Temple was conceived as a meeting place for the Masonic order as well as a memorial to Freemasons who gave their lives during World War I, replacing a Masonic Temple that had existed in a mixed-use building on Dorchester Street since 1895. The order had renovations done in 1908 and began to raise funds for a new building in 1923. In 1928, they contracted architect John Smith Archibald, who had previously renovated the Dorchester Street Temple, to design a new temple and supervise its construction.

The ceremonial laying of the cornerstone took place on June 22, 1929, with thirty-six lodges and 2,000 Masons parading to the new temple from the Dorchester Street Temple. The Grand Lodge of Quebec met for the first time in the new temple on February 12, 1930, at its 60th Annual Communication, on February 12, 1930. The temple commemorates Masons who died in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War.[4]

Design
Dedication Cornerstone dated 22 June, A.L. 5929
Libertas Detail
Veritas Detail

The facades on Sherbrooke and St-Marc streets and are covered with Queenston limestone. The main facade, on Sherbrooke, has a base made of rusticated limestone and features four openings as well as a prominent central entrance, flanked by two free-standing columns topped by terrestrial and celestial spheres. The main door is made of detailed architectural bronze. A decorative belt course defines the upper part of the base and consists of ornamental carving and words in relief: FIDES, VERITAS, CARITAS, LIBERTAS, SPES ("Faith", "Truth", "Charity", "Liberty", and "Hope" in Modern English).

A December 1930 issue of Construction, "A Journal for the architectural, engineering and contracting interests of Canada" featured an illustrated article, praised the Temple:

Neither our great Canadian classicists nor such well-known American practitioners as McKim, Mead and White have produced anything finer in Grecian adaptation than this Montreal building. As a work of architectural merit it ranks with Henry Bacon’s Lincoln Memorial , John Russell Pope’s Temple of the Scottish Rite and McKim, Mead and White’s J.P. Morgan Library. The modern Canadian buildings that are nearest to its class are Cobb’s Toronto Registry Office and Lyle’s Bank of Nova Scotia, at Ottawa.

One year later, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada gave its First Award, Class I, Monumental Buildings, to the Montreal temple.

Conservation

On January 30 2010, the Honourable W. David Angus, Senator, has announced that the Government of Canada is delivering infrastructure funding of $425'000 to the Masonic Memorial Temple National Historic Site of Canada.[5]

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References
  1. Masonic Memorial Temple National Historic Site of Canada. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
  2. "THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA COMMEMORATES THE NATIONAL HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MONTREAL MASONIC MEMORIAL TEMPLE". Parks Canada News Release. Government of Canada. 14 October 2006. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
  3. Parks Canada: Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada: Masonic Memorial Temple National Historic Site of Canada, Montréal, Quebec
  4. Scott, Marian (17 May 2013). "The Masons to reveal some of their inner workings". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  5. "Canada's Economic Action Plan Invests in Heritage Infrastructure at the Masonic Memorial Temple National Historic Site of Canada". Parks Canada News Release. Government of Canada. 30 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-25.

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