Georgetown Masonic Hall Gets a Facelift BY MICHAEL BIDLER, PM AND PRESIDENT, GEORGETOWN MASONIC HALL ASSOCIATION
There has been a Masonic hall in Georgetown for well over 200 years, but the current iteration was built in 1965 after a fire destroyed the previous hall in 1963. After another recent fire in an adjacent building caused some damage to our space, we repaired and renovated much of our Lodge Room, but the refectory has remained largely untouched for many years, and its renovation and repair has been long overdue. So, this summer as the hall went mostly dark, we began the process of renovating our refectory space to upgrade, modernize, and redecorate this important gathering area, with an operating budget of $50,000.00 approved by the Hall Association. While assessing our current conditions, several priorities were identified. First, we addressed the lighting situation. Our archivist was limited to certain localized areas of wall space where he was able to display our Masonic artifacts due to light-islands created by long-ago installed wall sconce picture lights. The institutional surfacemounted florescent light fixtures were expensive to maintain with the failing transformers, old long-florescent tubes which were phased out of production due to energy inefficiency.
As the extra work compiled, and in an effort to control costs and stay within budget, we made the decision to eliminate the planned vault ceiling and leave the fully functional HVAC ductwork and sprinklers in their current place while we worked around them. So, we removed all remnants of previous installations, re-insulated the entire ceiling-roof trusses, and installed a new fire rated gypsum ceiling. Next, three types of lighting were installed to create the diversified range of lighting for the needs we identified. First, we hung three classically styled brass LED chandeliers in the center of the room to provide very low and elegant dining light for more contemplative uses of the Refectory. Second, we installed a full perimeter LED track lighting system to afford full and unencumbered flexibility to illuminate any art or archival work, anywhere around the perimeter of the room. Finally, we installed a robust series of recessed LED lights for bright light needs.
In addition to the extensive work in the refectory, the project further included needed incidental work: new lighting in the West Gate/dressing room of the main Lodge, new paint in the auxiliary spaces as needed, and a new commercial grade garbage disposal To address these issues, in the kitchen. All-in-all, we removed the pre-existincluding the initial scope New paint and lighting in the refectory ing tile ceiling, hoping to of design work and addireplace it with a new elliptical vault ceiling with modern, tional work implemented, we brought the entire project in under updated lighting and fixtures. However, we discovered that the budget and ahead of schedule. However, we are still actively funprevious renovation covered over and left a field of old industrial draising in an effort to re-pay the generous loan from Potomac recessed lighting along with assorted wires and debris. AddiLodge. We are 1/3 the way there, and if you’d like to help – please tionally, we discovered that over the many years of roof-leak contact Michael Bidler, President of the Georgetown Masonic repairs and duct work by the landlord, most of the ceiling-roof Hall Association. Your support is important and guarantees that insulation that may have once existed was either removed or so our Lodge hall continues to be a place where future generations badly deteriorated that it needed to be replaced. can learn, grow, and collaborate in Masonry. (continued on page 11) ISSUE 4, 2019 The Voice of Freemasonry 7
