The city of Pine Bluff should include another building on its list of those to be saved: the Masonic Temple.
An outfit called the Abandoned Atlas Foundation did a deep dive into the temple.
The structure is shuttered now, but the foundation members got approval to go inside and photograph the building, and then they put together a nice history piece on it.
The article appeared in The Commercial last Sunday.
The idea to construct the building, located just off Main Street at East Fourth Avenue and State Street, was hatched in earnest 1902, although discussions had been going on a decade before that.
The cornerstone was laid in 1902, and it was an event that attracted dignitaries and members of the Masons and Order of the Eastern Star. In one report -- perhaps in an edition of this newspaper -- it said that 900 Masons marched up Main Street for the ceremony.
It would take another decade or so to complete the building's construction, which stalled out because of a lack of financing.
But enough of it was completed that in 1904 there started to be Masonic lodge meetings held inside.
"When it was completed, the Masonic lodge was the tallest building in Pine Bluff," stated the article.
"The structure was built in stages by the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Arkansas, the state's Black Masonic order."
On the first floor of the building, there were retail stores.
On the second, there were professional offices, such as for doctors and dentists.
And the top two floors were for Masonic organizations.
The building crossed many hurdles just to come into existence, and it also suffered a fire in the mid-1950s. Remodeling started to repair the damage, and a year later, in 1955, the building was back in business.
The photos from the Abandoned Atlas Foundation show a building that doesn't look that bad.
Mainly, it just looks cluttered, as any abandoned building might.
Does the roof leak? Are the pipes burst? Is there asbestos? We do not know, and it was not the article's intention to spell out such things.
But this is one of the most historic buildings in Pine Bluff, and as such, we believe it should be preserved, not only for its architectural significance, yes, but also particularly for its contribution to the African American lineage of the city.
Other structures, such as the Saenger Theater and the Hotel Pines, are on the list of structures that are must-keeps. The Masonic Temple needs to be at the top of the list as well.
Imagine shops and restaurants, with offices and even some apartments upstairs.
Restored properly, it could be a jewel in the downtown landscape and one that the whole city could take pride in seeing put back to its old self.