Ancient Free and Accepted Masons
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Masonic Temple (Ancient Free and Accepted Masons)
1911–1914, 1928, E. E. Pruitt. 427 W. Pike St.
Although their street addresses suggest otherwise, these two fraternal temples (one could say fraternal twins) stand adjacent to each other, providing a wonderful lesson in architectural family values by displaying varieties of the same classical genes.
The smaller sibling, the Elks Club, is, indeed, a temple, with a pedimented, giant-order Corinthian portico. Behind the portico's deep embrasure, an expansive cantilevered secondfloor balcony provides a viewing platform. At the taller Masonic Temple, two stories serve as a base for a three-story, distyle in antis Doric portico that is something of a sham. Three-quarter columns attached to the facade serve simply as a decorative screen. An even more unorthodox arrangement of two additional stories above a classical pediment is explained by the fact that they are a 1928 addition. The same Columbus,
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