Ornate downtown building that dates from 1866 has been renovated for meetings, weddings.

By June Arney
Baltimore Sun, February 7, 2006 [abbreviated but otherwise unedited]

The once-secret halls of a downtown Masonic temple have undergone a $27 million transformation to attract brides, banquets and businessmen, adding a new competitor in Baltimore's meetings and events market. The recently opened Tremont Grand, in the 200 block of N. Charles St., is linked to the 300-suite Tremont Plaza by a walkway. With 45,000 square feet of meeting space, the hotel is second only to the much larger Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, with 79,500 square feet of meeting space. Previously, the Tremont Plaza's meeting space was limited to groups of up to 100.


Masonic apartments will ring once more with conviviality. Old Masonic room will now function as a ballroom and meetings room.

"It's changing our profile in the city," said Michael Elliott, director of sales and marketing for Baltimore's three Tremont properties. "Our niche is going to be groups and meetings in the 400s and overnight accommodations for up to 300 in the connecting hotel. We expect sustained growth, because we'll be offering something unique - not only to Baltimore but to the Mid-Atlantic."

When the Tremont's owner first bought the Masonic temple in 1998, he initially sought to preserve a spectacular building. Only later did he conceive the idea of connecting the old ceremonial rooms to his existing hotel. Now, he's counting on the 140-year-old building's ornate ceilings, marble floors and elegant rooms to attract business.

The former Grand Lodge of Maryland building in downtown Baltimore

Even with about $10 million in historic tax credits, the gamble will be whether investing $27 million to create ambience and elegance in a historic building will pay off with high occupancies for the hotel and a brisk meetings and events trade at the Tremont Grand.
 
Built beginning in 1866 and expanded after fires in 1890 and 1908, the Grand Lodge of Maryland Masonic Temple has long been considered one of the city's architectural wonders. The Masonic Temple was less known by the public because of the lodge's secretive nature.>>

Editorial note
It is good to see old buildings of any kind recycled, and their features retained, albeit in another role. This is inevitable, for old buildings can be difficult to maintain in their original splendor, and to bring them up to code can be expensive indeed. At urban properties, parking can also be a thorny issue. We are lucky indeed to have the use of the Quincy Masonic Building, which is an architectural gem.

“Among the ten meeting rooms available for Masonic use were a Tudor Gothic one modeled on the Roslyn Chapel in Edinburgh, Scotland, and another room which recreated the interior of an Egyptian temple. The building also featured ornate lobbies, a marble staircase, stained-glass windows, and rococo chandeliers, pipe organs, and two large kitchens. The Grand Lodge maintained its headquarters here until 1994, when the shift of Masonic membership to the suburbs finally decided it to move to property it owned in Baltimore County’s Hunt Valley.”
It would be great to see the Rosslyn Chapel room! By the bye, Rosslyn is not Tudor Gothic, but Gothic (building was commenced in 1446) – maybe the Baltimore room is Tudor Gothic, though.




Massachusetts Masons are fortunate to have a Grand Lodge downtown Boston!

Pictured:
The new doors at Grand Lodge.
These glass doors adorned with the square and compasses are more welcoming than the opaque wooden doors which they replaced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Rural Lodge Newsletter 13
17 February 2006