More homes are for sale in Cincinnati. So why aren't prices falling?
NEWS

Price Hill’s historic Masonic Temple to be restored

Kurt Backscheider
kbackscheider@communitypress.com
  • “We really felt the need to restore it before it passed the point of no return” - Ken Smith

EAST PRICE HILL – A neighborhood landmark left empty for nearly three decades is getting new life.

Price Hill Will recently completed the purchase of the old Masonic Temple Lodge at 3301 Price Ave. in East Price Hill. The community development organization bought the building from Priceview LLC for $20,000.

“We want to create a neighborhood asset, something to benefit the entire community,” said Ken Smith, executive director of Price Hill Will.

“It’s a really neat building and we want to see it put back into use for the community.”

He said the organization plans to restore the historic building, opening it up to serve as a neighborhood meeting space and hosting events like art exhibits, weddings and performances.

The lodge dates back to 1911, and was used as a Masonic Temple for 77 years. Smith said it was designed by Samuel Hannaford and Sons, known for designing Cincinnati City Hall and Music Hall.

It was listed as condemned in 2011, but the East Price Hill Improvement Association lobbied the city to designate the building as a historic landmark and money was then secured through the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to stabilize the structure, Smith said.

“We really felt the need to restore it before it passed the point of no return,” he said.

The lodge boasts more than 9,000 square feet of space, and he said it has two large auditoriums ideal for community events.

Price Hill Will received $25,000 in grants from PNC Bank and the Ohio Capital Impact Corp., a subsidiary of the Ohio Capital Corp. for Housing, to conduct a feasibility analysis and market study to determine if the building could be reasonably salvaged before it purchased the lodge, Smith said.

Because the lodge is a historic landmark, he said they are prohibited from any remodeling of the building. It will be a restoration project aimed at returning the building as close as possible to its original appearance, both inside and out, he said.

Price Hill Will is asking residents who have any photos of the lodge’s interior to provide them to the organization to help in the efforts of making sure the building is restored in a historically accurate manner, Smith said.

It’s estimated restoring the lodge will cost upwards of $4 million, he said. Price Hill Will is applying for historical tax credits and working to launch a capital campaign to fund the project, he said. The campaign will seek donations from individuals, corporations and foundations.

“We imagine we’ll spend at least the next year working on the funding for it,” he said.

If all goes as planned, Smith said they hope to begin construction sometime in 2016.