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. ated by long-ago installed

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.

So, this summer as the hall went mostly dark, Next, three types of lighting were installed to we began the process of renovating our refectory create the diversified range of lighting for the space to upgrade, modernize, and redecorate this needs we identified. First, we hung three classiimportant gathering area, with an operating budget of cally styled brass LED chandeliers in the center of the $50,000.00 approved by the Hall Association. room to provide very low and elegant dining light for more While assessing our current conditions, several priorities were perimeter LED track lighting system to afford full and unencumidentified. First, we addressed the lighting situation. Our archibered flexibility to illuminate any art or archival work, anywhere vist was limited to certain around the perimeter of the localized areas of wall space room. Finally, we installed where he was able to disa robust series of recessed play our Masonic artifacts LED lights for bright light due to light-islands creneeds. contemplative uses of the Refectory. Second, we installed a full wall sconce picture lights. In addition to the extenThe institutional surfacesive work in the refectory, mounted florescent light the project further included fixtures were expensive to needed incidental work: maintain with the failing new lighting in the West transformers, old long-floGate/dressing room of the rescent tubes which were main Lodge, new paint phased out of production in the auxiliary spaces as due to energy inefficiency. 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 ing tile ceiling, hoping to New paint and lighting in the refectory 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.