Buchan Group has been enlisted by the Freemasons to re-develop one of its Masonic halls.
The Williamstown Masonic Temple was built in 1891 and the adjacent meeting hall in 1930.
Documents on the Hobson’s Bay Council website show $800,000 would be spent renovating the meeting room, built in the 1930s. The original 120-year-old temple, left of the meeting room, has major cracks down its facade and would also undergo repairs as part of the project.
In submissions to the council Buchan Group wrote: “The proposed addition and renovation works to the Freemasons centre at 21-25 Electra Street, Williamstown have been carefully and sympathetically crafted to provide a new chapter to the Freemasons story on this site.”
The temple is protected by a heritage overlay but the meeting room has little significant heritage value, the documents show. ??The new meeting room’s design has been chosen to reinforce the Freemasons tradition of craftsmanship, wrote The Buchan Group, while the glazing (glass walls) “signals a number of aspects which reinforce the continuing Freemasons story on this site”.
Despite the modern appearance of the building, the architects claim the existing buildings are being constantly referenced.
Freemasons Victoria spokesman, Keith Murray, told the Hobson Bay Leader, that the Williamstown Freemasons chapter, established in 1854, was overdue for an upgrade.
“We agreed we should be putting something more significant back into the community after having been here for over 100 years. ??“Our view was we would invest substantially in that, encouraging not only our organisation to have a future for the next 100 years but also for the community to feel it is a facility they would be able to use.”
Murray said the council has yet to approve the application.
“We’ve got a substantial amount of money on it but we’re in the hands of the council,” he said.
