MASONIC LODGE UPDATE – In 2017, the city acquired the Masonic Lodge building located near the intersection of Crescent Valley Drive and Vernhardson Street. The building and the property its located on are surrounded on three sides by city-owned park property - Crescent Creek Park, the sand volleyball courts, and the BMX park. 
 
 The Masonic Lodge building was originally built in 1915 as a school house, but it would be difficult to recognize it now. Gone are the windows, second story, and bell tower. Most of these changes came after the Masons acquired the building in 1947. Because the building has been altered so significantly, it is not eligible for placement on state or federal historic registers.
 
 The building is largely unusable except for a portion of the basement, which has been leased to the Gig Harbor Cooperative Preschool since before the city took ownership of the property.
 
Fast-forward six years to 2023, and we are now in the beginning stages of a master planning process for Crescent Creek Park, which will look at expanding the park to include all of the adjacent park land. Perhaps the biggest question in this process has been: “what should we do with the Masonic Lodge?” To help answer this question, the city hired HBB Landscape Architects to conduct a feasibility study on the potential to remodel and repurpose the building.
 
The results of that study were presented to the city council at the May 11 study session. In short, the study concluded that in order to bring the building up to minimum standards for occupation and ADA compliance, the costs would exceed $1.75 million. These improvements would not include any features or amenities to make it a usable facility for community events, meetings, arts, or other functions. 
 
After careful consideration, council directed staff to prepare a resolution stating the city’s intent to demolish the building and explore other uses for the property in the Crescent Creek Park Master Plan. This resolution was considered at the Monday, May 22, city council meeting. Public comment on the resolution was accepted at the meeting. Several area residents rote emails to Council and testified against the proposed demolition of the Lodge. As a result, the resolution was not adopted. 

A group of area residents have developed concepts for a major addition and remodel of the Lodge. Council has asked for a one year pause on the master planning process in order for more specifics to be developed by the group. Future meetings will be open to the public. 

 
For more information on the Crescent Creek Park Master Plan and the Masonic Lodge building, please reach out to Parks Manger Jennifer Haro at (253) 853-8253.