New Watertown Masonic Temple owner looks to the future

Garrett L. McCarthy insists you can’t judge a building by its crumbling exterior.

During a tour Friday morning, Mr. McCarthy said the condition of the Masonic Temple, 242 Washington St., looks much worse from the outside.

“It’s solid,” he said. “There’s nothing structurally wrong. It’s all external.”

Mr. McCarthy took Brian S. Phelps, city assessor, and Richard J. Holley, the city’s real property appraiser, through the 1915 structure Friday to get an idea of what its assessment should be now that Mr. McCarthy has become its owner.

While the few remaining members of Watertown Masonic Lodge 49 still used the building for their monthly meetings as recently as June, the building has been vacant since some lawyers moved out seven years ago.

Mr. Phelps said he was surprised that the building’s condition hadn’t changed much since the last time he was inside, about six years ago.

“There’s so much potential,” he said to Mr. McCarthy. “But I’m not sure there’s much economic sense.”

Mr. McCarthy hopes to convert the deteriorating building into an educational and arts center. On Thursday, he said that he has some tentative commitments from potential tenants, but he would not elaborate. On Friday, he said he might have some other news in several months.

The temple was built during the golden age of Freemasonry in the early 20th century, an era when many Masonic-related groups, such as the Order of the Eastern Star and the Daughters of the Nile, were established.

“I’ve been a Mason for many years in Sackets, but I’ve never been inside this building,” said Mr. Holley, adding that members always kept what once took place there a secret.

While Mr. McCarthy looks toward the building’s future, some of its magnificent past remains.

The mahogany seats and a wood railing looping around the balcony are still in noticeably good condition in the two-story, 300-seat auditorium, where Mr. McCarthy said he can envision the Masons holding their rituals and meetings.

Three rooms wrapping around the auditorium contain a row of wooden closets where members hung their elaborate robes and other garments.

“They had a lot of closet space,” Mr. McCarthy said.

He pointed out where the building’s interior drainage system has failed over the years, causing six water spots that run down walls inside the building. When he was on the roof a few months ago, Mr. McCarthy found “a lake of water” that covered much of its south side. But he put up a makeshift drainage system that has diverted water and avoided further damage this winter, he said, although he may have to replace the roof.

He acknowledged that the building’s exterior is in rough shape. Over the years, the city code enforcement office was forced to take steps to keep the public safe from chunks of concrete that fell from cornices.

Before entering the building Friday morning, Mr. McCarthy said he recently noticed a slab of concrete had fallen off the side of the portico.

As the construction story goes, Mr. McCarthy said, ramps were installed at the back of the building solely to allow workers to haul up concrete while the temple was being built.

Looking more closely at some interior concrete blocks, Mr. Phelps surmised that the bricks were made on site during the building’s construction.

Facing decreasing enrollment, the Masons were forced several years ago to move their meetings from the auditorium to a small room in the basement. An ornately carved altar sits in the middle of the dark basement room, which was illuminated Friday only by a flashlight that Mr. Phelps carried.

In a nearby room, thousands of ledgers and other historic documents remain in cabinets. Mr. McCarthy surmised they would be considered a treasure by the Jefferson County Historical Society. Hundreds of unsold pots and pans, books and other items have sat on tables since a 2005 public auction to sell off the Masons’ belongings.

Over the years, several other people had expressed interest in acquiring the building, but the deals fell through each time.

“He’s the first to actually purchase it,” said Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham, who’s been a skeptic of the project. “We’ll have to wait to see what he does next and what comes next.”