Parkrose Masons spruce up lodge

Find out how members of the East Gate Masonic Lodge are updating their outer East Portland Lodge, in Parkrose …

As Multnomah County continues to “open up” after the coronavirus pandemic, members of this fraternal organization, East Gate Masonic Lodge #155, are busy fixing up their Lodge.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

In several stories over the years, we’ve highlighted the community service provided by the “East Gate Fraternal Lodge #155 Free and Accepted Masons”, and their members.

They’re looking forward, once again, to inviting the public into their facilities, and to hosting programs of benefit to both education, and the community.

That’s we learned from the lodge’s Secretary, Michael Wall, when we visited during a work party on June 26.

Working from a ladder on one of the hottest weekends in history – to restore air conditioning to the second floor – we found East Gate Masonic Lodge Secretary Michael Wall.

“For the past three months, we’ve been here almost every weekend, working to refresh the look and functionality of our Lodge – so we can continue to be a center in our community,” Wall told East Portland News.

It had been about a decade since they’d done any major work on the building, he said. “We’re fixing the cracks, repairing the windows, and repainting the Lodge – in perhaps a cheerier color.”

After volunteers patched cracks in the wall, and built this ADA ramp, Lodge member Bud Wingate put finishing touches on a wall in preparation for repainting.

As a bit of history, Wall told how the building was originally a one-story central kitchen for the school district. What was the floor level was jacked up and is now the structure’s second floor. When PG&E installed a substation on a property directly south of their building, the heavy construction caused the ground to shift and settle.

“We started by patching a crack here and there, including the large crack in our main stairwell,” Wall recalled. “And then, we decided were going to put a ‘handicap ramp’ from our main entrance up to our stair lift, to the upper level. From there, we started thinking about what could do to make our Lodge look better.”

Priming patches for painting in the first floor “great room” is the Lodge’s Past Master, and current Treasurer, Peter Morrison.

As an aside, Wall talked about a separate project to digitize the Lodge’s historical archives, which span back to 1913. “In the process, one of the interesting things we found were documents dated 1937, during the tuberculosis pandemic here in Portland. It shows how the health safety recommendations, back then, were similar to the current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and health protocols now.”

To learn more about the Masons’ “East Gate Fraternal Lodge #155” in Parkrose, CLICK HERE for their Facebook Page. They’re located at 4812 NE 102nd Avenue, 97220; phone (503) 660-8291.

>> On our Front Page: Lodge Chaplain Todd Lewis does fill and spackle work on a first floor wall.

Comments are closed.