THE GRAND LODGE OF MAINE

As you may be aware, the Grand Lodge of Maine has been working to relocate their administrative offices out of its current location in Portland.  A great resource has been posted online at www.mainemason.org   Please feel free to review the entire six page outline for more details.

However, here is a synopsis of some of the points made.

"There are several important reasons why a move away from the current building is being
discussed for the Grand Lodge Administrative Offices:"

•  Membership in Maine Masonry has been dwindling for many years.
•  RENT - The building at 415 Congress Street is NOT OWNED by Grand Lodge.
•  Sadly, this hundred-year old building has seen few major renovations during the past century.
• The plumbing or heating will eventually need to be brought ‘up to code’ standards of today.
• The Portland Temple Associates are in a weak cash position because of;
• 2006 - 2007 embezzlement
• the down economy
• Freemasonry’s numbers decrease resulting in fewer sources of new revenue.

The Grand Master – in his role as Chairman of the Maine Masonic Charitable Foundation – appointed a Site Selection Committee consisting of both MMCF Trustees and other Masons from around the state to examine all of the various proposals and ideas relative to moving the Grand Lodge Administrative Offices and to make a recommendation as to how to proceed.

Merrill Bank Building in Holdon, ME

This committee weened the potential locations to five and included the Masonic Temple in Bath, a former credit union building in Pittsfield and a former Merrill Bank building in Holden and current building in Portland for comparison.  The committee ultimately proposed to the Maine Masonic Charitable Foundation that a building in Holden at the corner of Route 1A and Route 46 – be purchased for the purpose of housing the Library and Museum and to allow the rental of space by Grand Lodge for their Administrative Offices.

The assessed value of the building was $649,000. The asking price was $379,000 and the ultimate sales price was negotiated at $300,000.  There were many reasons for selecting this particular building in this particular location.

• It is a reasonably new building, 19 years old. 
• It has just under 3,000 sq. ft. at ground level
• another 3,000 sq. ft. dry and accessible basement for records storage, meeting rooms, etc. 
• the 800 sq.ft. drive-thru area is part of the footprint and could be used for future expansion.
• It is propane heated and has built-in air conditioning. 
• A fire department hydrant is on the property. 
• It is in a VERY visible location, right along the route to Bar Harbor.
• It will result in a savings to Grand Lodge in the first year of $12,500.
• NO increase in per-capita tax as a result of this action is anticipated.  
• Within a 30 minute drive there are about 15% more Maine Masons than the Portland location.

 The full update, again on www.mainemason.org, provides more details and some great Q&A for your consideration.