One of the theaters was subsequently renamed in his honor. We and our partners use cookies to better understand your needs, improve performance and provide you with personalised content and advertisements.
To allow us to provide a better and more tailored experience please click "OK". Sign Up. Travel Guides. Videos Beyond Hollywood Hungerlust Pioneers of love. Tim Marklew. Give us feedback. Read Next View. Element Detroit at the Metropolitan. The Inn at 97 Winder. The Inn On Ferry Street. Aloft Detroit at The David Whitney. The 1, rooms reflect a variety of decorative styles, from Corinthian to Art-Deco, and a beautiful collection of art and artifacts is exhibited throughout the building. View all items related to the Masonic Temple.
All Rights Reserved. Skip to main content. Shop Donate Webcam Pressroom Blog. These rooms are all true to period and the composite has not been used.
All of the artwork throughout the building, especially the beautifully decorated ceilings, was done under the personal direction of famous Italian artists. On the third floor of the tower we find the quarters of the Commandery, consisting of the beautiful parlor treated in the Tudor period with its walls of high oak paneling and the two figures in armor creating an atmosphere suggesting the period of knighthood.
The work room of the Commandery known in the parlance of Templarism as the Asylum adjoins the parlor. This room is truly a poem in stone and wood with a touch of the cathedral suggested by its Gothic architecture and stained glass windows, placed as a memorial to those who gave much of their life to the progress of this phase of the Order.
The Asylum is a reproduction of the room in the Tower of London where the knights received their charge before leaving on the Crusades during the middle ages. These details have also been carried out in the stone flagging of the floor with its worn edges suggestive of the rough wear caused by the mail shod feet of the ancient knights. Adjoining the Asylum is the small but beautiful Red Cross Room devoted to a part of the ritualistic work of the Templars.
On the second floor we find the Chapter Room, made most impressive by its heavy red hangings which cause to stand out in bold relief the white Doric pillars surrounding the room. The main lobby is a work of art, the decorative scheme having been adopted from a room in an old castle in Palermo, Sicily. The expansive archway of the main entrance with the especially designed chandelier and handsomely wrought brass floor plaque are all features of interest.
The bronze doors of the six elevators which serve the tower are emblazoned with the symbols of the Craft, the same symbolism being very artistically incorporated in the decorative scheme throughout the entire building. Adjoining the main lobby is the Scottish Rite lounge, richly furnished with period furniture, beautiful hangings and Persian rugs, with its high paneled walls, heavy molded ceilings and cathedral windows creates an atmosphere suggestive of Scottish Rite Masonry.
In this lounge is hung an original painting of George Washington as master of his lodge, done by Emanuel Leutze in the year , and also the wonderfully wrought suit of armor fashioned in Europe especially for the Scottish Rite quarters. Stepping from the lounge through an ample hall, one enters the Scottish Rite Cathedral with its seating capacity of 1, and its fully equipped stage for the dramatization of the Scottish Rite degrees.
The cathedral is a beauty spot of the Temple made rich by the carvings and color work of the whole which is most effectively carried out in the ceiling.
The cathedral is equipped with a four manual organ of 70 stops, the echo of which is located in the ceiling. The stage is modern in every detail with a width of 64 feet from wall to wall and a depth of 37 feet from foot lights. The proscenium opening is 35 feet. The height from floor to fly gallery is 28 feet and from floor to gridiron is 64 feet. There is a counterweight system of sets of lines and a remote control five color preset switchboard.
Passing along from the Scottish Rite Cathedral on the main level to the center portion of the Temple we come to the auditorium or public portion of the structure. In this section of the building on the third floor mezzanine is the mammoth Drill Hall, comprising 17, square feet of open floor space. The Drill Hall is equipped with one of three floating floors in the United States; that is, the entire floor is laid on felt cushions.
This type of construction provides more or less give to the floor which tends to relieve the marchers. Immediately under the Drill Hall we enter the Main Theatre. The Main Theatre of the Masonic Temple is one of the finest public halls in the United States, having a seating capacity of about 5, Because of the arrangement, there is maintained a very intimate contact between audience and stage.
Aside from the Shrine Ceremonials and an occasional concert conducted by some of the bodies, this auditorium is available to the public and is becoming more and more a center for the finest things in dramatics and music offered to the people of Detroit. The decorative treatment of the auditorium has considerable detail adapted from the Venetian Gothic and in the handling of the color decoration its character his been consistently carried out. The general tone is gold which has been enlivened with red and blue to produce a quiet richness of color seldom attempted in this type of work.
A great deal of careful study was given to the acoustical treatment of this room which has produced an auditorium where the hearing qualities are perfect from every seat. The auditorium is lighted by indirect light from the balcony rail and from two magnificent electroliers suspended from the ceiling.
These chandeliers weigh one and a half tons each and take three quarters of an hour to lower to the ground level. They are thirteen feet over all, and eight feet in diameter. Having a jeweled effect with red, blue and amber on dimmers a great variety of lighting combinations are possible.
It might be mentioned here that the lighting fixture contract for the Temple called for the greatest number of special fixtures of any building in the country. There is a great variety of styles all well studied and in perfect scale.
The stage of the auditorium is the second largest in the United States, having a width between walls of feet and a depth from curtain line of 55 feet. It is equipped with a counterweight system of 90 sets of lines and a remote control four color pre-set switchboard. Supported from the gridiron are two structural steel bridges for carrying border and other lamps. The proscenium arch is 64 feet wide and 32 feet high.
There are 23 well furnished dressing rooms, both the individual type and those for ballet and chorus groups, these being on three levels are served by elevator. Both the Main Theatre and the Scottish Rite Cathedral are provided with picture booths, equipped with the most modern Motiograph machines, effect machines and spot lights. The plans for the auditorium provide for an organ, the lofts of which are located on either side of the proscenium arch, but as yet the instrument had not been installed.
In this center section of the building directly below the auditorium and approached by a wide stairway on either side is the Fountain Ball Room, a very expansive circular room receiving its name from the tiled fountain which produces a very beautiful effect when lighted.
The Fountain Ball Room provides enough space for the seating of 1, at a banquet, or will provide for 1, couples when the room is used for dancing purposes.
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