Building the View Street Temple

The purchase of the land in View Street on which the Bendigo Masonic Temple, now the Capital - Bendigo's Performing Arts Centre, was built brought the Golden and the Corinthian Lodges together. But its story also shows that the ill-feeling between the early lodges was often very strong and even, at times, most un-Masonic.

Golden Lodge had built the original Masonic Hall in Myers Street in 1855. It had originally refused Corinthian's application to rent it for their meetings because of bitterness over Corinthian's formation, but eventually agreed in 1863. When Zenith Lodge was consecrated in 1866, feelings were so strong that it did not even ask to meet in Golden Lodge's Hall but met in the Oddfellows Hall instead (now the YMCA hall).

A few months later, it became known that vacant land in View Street near the Survey Office would soon be offered for sale by the Government. As it was an ideal location for a central Masonic Temple, officers from Zenith, at the instigation of Bro John Taylor, a member of the lodge and District Surveyor, approached the Minister for Lands and requested a free grant of the land. This was refused but the Minister agreed to put the land, split into two blocks, up for sale at an early date.

Corinthian Lodge, hearing of this, then called for a meeting of the three lodges to look at purchasing the land for Masonic purposes for the whole Bendigo community. Golden attended but Zenith refused, as the feeling between some members of those two lodges was still very heated.

The officers of the Golden Lodge and Corinthian Lodge waited in the meeting for some time but then concluded that Zenith's non-appearance was deliberate and, feeling slighted, decided to act together without it. As they believed Zenith planned to purchase the land for its own exclusive use, the two lodges hatched a plan which was put into operation on the auction day. They decided that price was no object with each block valued at about £300, though both would be needed .

On the auction day, the whole Board of General Purposes of Zenith Lodge attended but only WBro Samuels of Golden Lodge appeared as an opposing bidder. It seemed that the other two lodges were not interested. Bidding began for the first block.

The bids quickly ran above £300. The Zenith brethren paused frequently to confer at length about their bids and, during one of these lengthy conferences and with Bro Samuels holding a bid of £347, the auctioneer (who was a member of Corinthian Lodge and a good friend of Samuels) knocked the property down to him. The Zenith brethren protested loudly to the Government officer that the auctioneer had not allowed them sufficient time to decide but, as the price was well above the expected value, the sale was allowed. As one block was of no use to them without the other, the Zenith brethren departed and WBro Samuels purchased the second block for the bare £300.

Subsequently, Zenith was approached to join Corinthian and Golden Lodges in building the Bendigo Masonic Centre but they refused and it was quite some years before the breach was to be healed.

It took a few years to develop plans and finances for the erection of the new hall. The prominent architectural firm of Vahland and Getzschmann (both Golden Lodge members) was contracted to design "the grandest Masonic temple in the colony". In Vahland's favoured classical style, it would eventually include a stately lodge room, banquet hall, library, offices, kitchens, and a large public theatre, seating over 500.

By 1872 things were ready to be finalised. After lengthy discussions between the Boards of General Purposes of Corinthian and Golden Lodges about the legal problems of joint ownership and title, it was resolved that the best solution was to amalgamate the lodges. The Provincial Grand Master in Melbourne (Police Commissioner Frederick Standish, a founder member of Golden lodge) took some convincing as previous amalgamations had only taken place by one lodge returning its warrant and its members joining the other. But both Bendigo Lodges argued for complete equality and those terms were finally accepted.

Therefore, on the 6th of November 1872, the Golden and Corinthian Lodge met as a single entity. All positions were declared vacant and the election resulted in an equal and alternate distribution of brethren from the two lodges in the offices. The older warrant and number, Golden's #641 (EC), were retained, which eventually was to enable the lodge to obtain the number 7 at the formation of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria as one of the oldest lodges in the colony.

In the meantime, Zenith Lodge approached the new lodge with a request for assistance in their plan to build their own Masonic Hall in Mundy St. It was politely rejected, pointing out the plans to build in View Street. This must have been accepted because on the 24th June 1873 Zenith took part in the Grand Procession of Masons (with several hundred people involved) to lay the foundation stone and in due course became tenants and then joint owners of the Hall.

In 1894, all ill-feeling having long since disappeared (probably with the original personalities) Golden & Corinthian Lodge and Zenith Lodge began the practice of joint Installations, which were to continue for many years.

Postscript: the cost of maintaining such a major building complex would weigh heavily on the lodges over the next century. By the 1980s, it had become too much for a volunteer organization without a commercial income and the rather run-down View Street Temple was sold to the City of Bendigo. With the assistance of a State Government heritage grant, it has been restored to its former glory and now serves the whole community as the Capital Performing Arts Centre. It is still proudly one of the grandest buildings in the "colony" and on October 3rd 2004 was the focus of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Freemasonry in Bendigo.

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These pages are designed by David Beagley for the Hall Board of the Bendigo Masonic Centre.
Responsibility for, and copyright of, content (unless otherwise noted) are his and his alone.

Last updated November 2005