West End Masonic Temple

From Bhamwiki
Revision as of 13:34, 12 March 2007 by Patriarca12 (talk | contribs) (Creation)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The West End Masonic Temple was a 3-story, 19,000 square foot lodge and office building located at 1436 Tuscaloosa Avenue in the West End of Birmingham. Designed by David O. Whilldin, this once served as a focal point in the West End community. However, by the late 1960s, the structure was largely abandoned and falling into a state of disrepair.

By 1994, the city of Birmingham paid $410,000 for the structure with intentions of renovating it into a community center. However, the structure was decimated by a fire on January 1, 1996. Taking 60 firefighters to control, after it was extinguished, a homeless man was killed in the blaze as he was sleeping on the 3rd floor of the abandoned structure. Its remains were subsequently demolished between June and July 1998.

The West End Library (2007) is now located atop the former site of the temple.

References

  • Ruisi, Anne. (July 22, 1998) "Temple comes down" "Birmingham News".
  • Ruisi, Anne. (February 21, 2007) "New library opens today" "Birmingham News".
Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=West_End_Masonic_Temple&oldid=17541"