Lodge handed over

An official handover took place this week to gift the Masonic Lodge to the Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust.

Dick Cleland, secretary of the Masonic Hall of Trustees, said lodge members were happy the trust was taking ownership of the Wansbeck St building.

‘‘The trust are going to faithfully look after the building. They’ll virtually take it over, although we will continue to have our lodge meetings there.

‘‘We’re looking forward to a long and continued association that we can carry on as a lodge with them,’’ Mr Cleland said.

The hall was the traditional ‘‘home of Freemasonry in Oamaru’’ and trustees, five members in total including him, held the deed to the building, Mr Cleland said.

But with declining membership and increased costs it was ‘‘becoming rather difficult’’ for Masonic members to maintain the lodge.

‘‘Without the trust’s help we would have had to probably find somewhere else to go and the building may have well fallen into ill repair.’’

While members ‘‘were rather sad to lose the identity of the building’’, it meant they could carry on as a lodge without paying annual rent, he said.

Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust chairman Richard Vinbrux said the Freemasons approached the trust about 18 months ago as ‘‘both groups have community interest’’ in mind.

Mr Vinbrux said the trust would continue to lease the building to other community organisations, including dance groups Heritage Dance, Balmoral Scottish Country Dancing and Victoria Cooper Academy of Dance.

‘‘We will help to preserve and look after the building, which is the core function of the trust, and we will continue to work closely with the Freemasons members, and with due diligence and good management take care of the hall.’’

OWCT property manager Jacob Barwick said the ‘‘ceremonial building’’ was a ‘‘beautiful example of Art Deco architecture, which is not a common sight in Oamaru, making it unique within the trust’s portfolio of Victorian buildings’’.