Work resumes on historic Franklin Masonic Lodge #57

Bricks are being laid to the Franklin Masonic Lodge #57 as of Saturday and continuing this week, weather permitting.
Stanley L. Baker Masonry LLC, a specialist in historic masonry, is in charge of the project. The historic pre-1900 lodge has been undergoing renovations for some time now.
Past Worshipful Master Ronald Williams said Baker’s work will include setting a steel lintel to reinforce across the tops of the windows to support the bricks. “He’s got one brick at a time, and he’s tying one thing in at a time,” Williams said. “You know, a 124-year-old building, it’s not like new construction.”
When the brick work is done the scaffolding will be removed, and current Worshipful Master Edmond Picard said there will also be steel reinforcements to the interior section of the wall to support it.
“He’s come a long way,” Williams said of Baker. “When we got to the bottom of that I-beam (in the first stage of brick work) the architect and the manufacturer of that mortar said you have to wait six months for it to cure to 750 psi. Once it cured out, of course we had to fight the weather.”
Donations have helped fund the restoration, Williams said, including materials. The mortar mix is specialized and expensive, for example. Local legislators have also provided some funding. “If this was the real world we’d have about a week to 10 days of actual work,” Williams said. After the masonry is complete, the sidewalk should be opened up within a week to 10 days.
All work is being done in a historically correct fashion. Windows will be reconstructed, Williams said, and a balcony returned to the building. “We’ve been fighting this since 2010,” he said. “I don’t want to lose this building. Once we’re finished on the outside we can go back inside and put back some of the work we’ve done.”
There had been a fundraiser where individuals could purchase bricks engraved with the names of whomever they chose. The concrete sidewalk will be removed and replaced with those commemorative bricks across the front of the lodge. “Stan is the only guy we could get who has the knowledge to restore this old building,” Williams said. “He’s helped us out tremendously.”
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