Memorial Hall
For the Grand Lodge to appropriate and spend money each year in an effort to bolster the utilization of the building's facilities and prolong its life seemed false economy.
At the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge in 1944 (the Centennial Communication) there was appropriated the sum of $10,000 for "repairs and improvements" of the building and grounds. This amount along with $20,000 of surplus Grand Lodge funds was invested in securities for a Library Improvement Fund.
At this Centennial Communication of the Grand Lodge William L. Perkins of Chariton was elected Grand Master, and due to restrictions placed on conventions by the war emergency, Brother Perkins was destined to serve as Grand Master for two years.
In his report covering the first fiscal year of his term, he recommended an annual appropriation, not to exceed $20,000, for the purpose of establishing a fund which would he available for future building needs. He said, "We are obligated to protect our property in memory of those Masons who had the foresight to establish such a fine Masonic Library and Museum, and to lay plans for ample room to house our holdings. I recommend that instead of annual expenditures for building repairs under the present condition of the buildings, that the funds allotted for repairs be set up in a special fund each year so that in time the fund will be ample to take care of our building needs sometime in the post war period; but further recommending that not more than $20,000 be set aside in the fund in any one year."
This proved to be a wise creation of a timely fund which added immeasurably to the erection of the present building. At the start of construction of the building on June 1, 1953, cash and securities in this fund amounted to $222,048.65.
In his report to the Grand Lodge at the conclusion of this second year in the office of Grand Master, Brother Perkins recommended that the Code be amended providing that $10 of each initiation fee be allocated to a Grand Lodge Building Fund. This $10 had previously been allocated to the Permanent Grand Charity Fund. This proposed amendment as finally adopted provided that the $10 in question was to be divided $5 to a Grand Lodge Building Fund and $5 to the Masonic Endowment Fund.
In 1949 this section of the Code was again changed channeling the entire $10 into the Grand Lodge Building Fund. On June 1, 1953, cash and securities in this fund amounted to $223,505.37.
Thus it is revealed that the foresight and enthusiasm of Brother William L. Perkins, as recorded in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge for 1944-45 and 1945-46, places his name at the top of the list of those who dreamed of a Library, Museum, and Administration Building commensurate with the world stature of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. He had given impetus to a plan which in the space of eight short years had produced a total of nearly a half million dollars for the erection of one of the world's outstanding buildings.
To complete the financing of this magnificent structure, at the Annual Communication in 1953, the Grand Lodge voted to borrow $700,000 from the Permanent Fund of the Grand Charity Board, and the following year legislation was enacted whereby each Iowa member was to contribute $1 per year to retire this indebtedness.
The first payment was made in 1955 and the final one in 1963.
The cost of the building was just over $1,000,000. The corner stone was laid October 10, 1953, with Grand Master Charles B. Hayes presiding.
The committee lost no time in becoming active and in a letter to each lodge on February 7, 1942, made its first report.
On August 26, 1942, the then Grand Master, Ford L. Vari Hoesen, asked for a contribution of twenty-five cents from each member. This request was repeated for the next five years, being discontinued after January 1, 1947.
By a request of the committee in June 1943, the funds available to the committee were to be alloted as follows: 40% to the Masonic Service Association; 40% to rehabilitation; and 20% to Iowa's program of service.
In June 1946, Grand Master William L. Perkins recommended to the Grand Lodge that a portion of the money from these contributions be set aside to erect a war memorial as a part of the new Grand Lodge Library building which was now in the early planning stages. His recommendation was adopted.
Surplus funds of the committee were invested in government bonds, and when construction of the new building was started in 1953 the bonds were cashed and the sum of $47,435 was available. This made possible the exquisite memorial hall with a roster of lodge members who served during the war.
In this room hangs the painting "Victorious Peace" by Edwin J.Bruns of Cedar Rapids, the gift of Burdette C. Lockman of Burns Lodge No. 173 of Monticello.
All morning threatening clouds had darkened the sky and all persons concerned had misgivings regarding the weather. About eleven o'clock a light rain began to fall and hopes sank to a new low. In about an hour the rain ceased and the program started on schedule.
The Grand Lodge was opened in ample form in the Grand Master's room of the new building at 1:30 p.m.
At two o'clock the Grand Lodge Officers and others participating in the ceremony, under the direction of the Grand Marshal, assembled on the platform. As Grand Master Wilbur F. Earhart stepped to the microphone, the sun shone through the clouds as though the dedication was being crowned with glory and approbation.
At the conclusion of the dedication ceremony, C. D. Jory, P.G.M., delivered the dedicatory address. The Grand Chaplain, Harry L. Cloyed, pronounced the benediction, and the Grand Lodge, after returning to the Grand Master's room, was closed in due and ancient form.
Immediately after the ceremony, open house was held and for the second time (a previous open house was held Sunday afternoon) in two days several thousand persons milled through the corridors and examined the charmingly furnished offices. Scores of bouquets had been delivered and placed, the gifts of admiring friends and business houses.
A score of girls, members of the Order of Rainbow, had been carefully briefed and given a descriptive pamphlet of the various aspects of the new building, and were ready as guides.
In the evening after the dedication a dedicatory banquet was held at the Armar Ballroom where over 2,100 Masons and their ladies enjoyed a delightful fellowship.
After a musical program the address of the evening was given by Thomas S. Roy, Past Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts.
The lot on which the building is built is 295 feet by 140 feet. East of this lot is a beautiful 46-foot lot which was deeded to the Grand Lodge in 1952 by Mrs. Emma Liddle to be landscaped as a memorial to her and her husband, Brother John T. Liddle. This work has been completed as a memorial garden. In the center of the lot is a white marble shaft suitably inscribed and surrounded by a flagstone base.
In construction preparation it was necessary to excavate 5,400 cubic yards of earth. There were 2,100 cubic yards of concrete used. Also used were 87,000 building tile, 280,000 common bricks, 55,000 face bricks, and two million pounds of marble. All of the white, outside marble (and there are 10,000 square feet of exposed marble surface) was prepared at the quarry in Vermont and crated and shipped to Cedar Rapids ready to be placed in the walls. The marble, lining the foyer and corridors, was quarried and prepared at Carthage, Missouri.
There is a total of 44 offices and work rooms in the building. The east wing comprises the administrative offices and three fireproof vaults. The museum consisting of two large display rooms and adjoining offices is on two floors in the northwest corner of the building. The unit along Eighth Street is the Library unit with offices, work rooms, vaults, and four floors of book stacks. A small electrically-operated book lift is near the alley entrance. There are 19 washrooms.
There are 3 outside doors, 130 inside doors, and 136 double windows. About half of the window space is stained glass depicting some Masonic symbolism easily recognized by most members of the Fraternity, such as the five orders in architecture.
The building is heated by city steam. Humidifiers are located on each floor of the book stacks.
Numerous questions have prompted us to comment on the following items: The carpeting is made from the best grade of Australian wool, dyed in the United States, and shipped to Puerto Rico where it was woven and processed; the grass cloth covering the walls in some of the rooms was hand woven in Japan and glued to the backing paper; the oil paintings in the conference rooms were made especially for the rooms by Mrs. Ora Newton Gibson from prints furnished from the files of the Library.
Since the dedication, nine of the offices, which are in almost constant use, have been air conditioned with a ten ton Westinghouse unit. Forced ventilation was originally provided for several of the inside rooms.
Over the First Avenue entrance is a quotation familiar to each member of the Craft: "Behold the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline with a plumbline in His hand."
On the front of the building west of the entrance is a quotation from one of Masonry's most gifted pensmen:
his substantial and highly appreciated gift brought handsome balance to our building on First Avenue. The added frontage of 47 feet made it possible for 51 feet of frontage east of the building and almost exactly the same on the west.
