Seventy-five years ago, the Edmonton Journal reported on the laying of the cornerstone for a grand new temple for the Masonic Order. It was in the depths of the Great Depression that the Edmonton Masons pushed ahead with their lofty plan. The November 1, 1930 ceremony officially launched construction of the $170,000 facility which had been a long time dream of the Edmonton Masons.

The property, on 100th Avenue (earlier known as Victoria Avenue) near 103rd Street, was purchased from Dr. Edward Braithwaite, a veteran of the 1885 Rebellion and Edmonton's first medical officer. Braithwaite served as a medic with the North West Mounted Police and witnessed the hanging of Louis Riel. He was posted to Fort Saskatchewan in 1890 and in 1892 established a medical practice in Edmonton.

He became Edmonton's first coroner in 1896 and performed the first surgery at several city hospitals. Braithwaite joined the Masons in 1893. The land for the temple was part of his holdings that once contained his home (that property was later purchased by the Foster and McGarvey Funeral Home).

The Masons commissioned renowned local architect William Blakey to design the building, instructing him to devise a place that would be both functional and inspirational. Blakey succeeded admirably and, with its Gothic influences and medieval flourishes, the four-storey lodge endures as one of downtown Edmonton's most striking and unusual buildings of its era. Built of steel and concrete and faced with red brick and artificial stone, the medieval lines of the facade include the Masonic emblems of the compass and square. Six canopied niches hold statues and, with its archways and towers, the building resonates with the spirit of medieval architecture.

The building at 10318 100 Avenue features two entrances a right one for public access to cloakrooms and the main floor auditorium and a left one for, as the Journal noted in a 1931 article, the "special prerogative of the craft." Both entrances featured oak doors, bronze lock plates, traceried oak transom lights and terrazzo marble underfoot.

Before the cornerstone was laid in November 1930, lists of members of the Masonic lodges in Edmonton, coins of the dominion and copies of the Journal were placed in a specially prepared receptacle beneath the stone. Along with the date, the cornerstone was engraved with the name Dr. S. M. Sneddon, grand master of Alberta at the time.

Construction began that month under the direction of R.W. Ritchie, general contractor. Just eight months later, the temple at 10318 100th Avenue was complete. It was opened and was dedicated with considerable pomp and circumstance June 10, 1931.

A story in the Edmonton Journal published to mark its completion noted that "locally made brick of just the right red colour and texture is used for ashlar, with dressings to doorways, windows and quoins of an artificially made stone that is also a local product and eminently pleasing in appearance." The newspaper waxed poetic about the structure's medieval charm, noting that, "In the design, the deeply recessed entrance piers, the bold many-throated mouldings, the heavily traceried windows and the massive short tower show how the architect has triumphed in spite of many limitations."

Those limitations were largely brought by the Depression and a shortage of materials. Even so, all inside wood finish is of oak or mahogany, with the exception of fir in the basement. Walls of the entrance halls, auditorium and lodge rooms are finished with coloured stucco.

The main floor is consumed by a 500-seat auditorium, floored in oak and four dressing rooms, each equipped with a washroom. The floor also includes a library, offices and foyer which boasts terrazzo flooring inlaid with copper masonic emblems.

Another gathering space, a banquet room in the basement, featured seating for 600 and a kitchen. A dumb waiter connected the kitchen with each floor.

The second floor contains offices and the third floor features large and small lodge rooms. The larger of these rooms are clad with ornate oak panelling, a two-storey open boom ceiling, four stained glass windows depicting the degrees of Masonry, a balcony, black and white rubber tile flooring, carved pillars and canopies. The smaller lodge room features three stained glass windows and walls of mahogany.

The structure boasted soundproof and fireproof construction. The Journal reported that even when a lodge session was underway on the second floor, "three hefty men swung lustily with hammers on three anvils in the auditorium and the sounds could not be heard above."

While it was budgeted at $170,000, the finished building ended up costly slightly more. The final tally neared $200,000, including furnishings.

The building remains one of the greatest accomplishments of Blakey, a prolific local architect who also designed Christ Church (1921), the Edmonton Journal building (1920-1921; demolished in 1988), the Roxy Theatre (1938) and the Garneau Theatre (1940). All these years later, this structure endures virtually unaltered. The Masonic Temple offers a snapshot not only of Gothic splendour but also some of the finest architecture completed in Edmonton in the "dirty 30s."

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