BISHOP.TXT    p64


     SCOTTISH RITE TEMPLE
     MOBILE, ALABAMA

AS EARLY AS JANUARY 1984 the
special quality of the Mobile, Ala-
bama, Scottish Rite Temple was recog-
nized by the Alabama Historical Com-
mission which placed the building on the
national register of historic places.
More recently, on February 11, 1990, the
Historic Mobile Preservation Society in
its annual presentation ceremony
presented the Temple with one of its
coveted architectural awards.

   Held in the Temple itself, the event
drew over 300 guests, including the
Mayor of Mobile, the Honorable Mike Dow.
Members of the Mobile Rite's KCCH
Honour Guard acted as ushers during the
ceremony and as tour guides after it.
Guests were escorted to the 700-seat
auditorium, built especially to
accommodate Scottish Rite Reunions and
Shrine Ceremonials, and then invited
to tour the facility's two smaller
auditoriums, Lodge rooms, office suites,
recreational areas, kitchen and serving
facilitiesin all five stories served by
central heating and air conditioning.
   
   Built between 1921-22, the present
Temple incorporated portions of the St.
Francis Street Baptist Church and
parsonage, remodeling them so completely
that only an expert eye can detect
sections belonging to the older
buildings. Instead what catches the
attention of any passerby is the
Temple's unique exterior which recalls
the architectural facade of several
ancient sacred buildings in Karnak near
Luxor, Egypt.

   During World War II the Temple's main
areas were taken over by the Army Air
Force and its auditorium converted to a
huge map room covering the Southeastern
United States. Three tiers of offices
were constructed around the
auditorium's walls so that the military
staff of the interceptor center could
view and chart every plane crossing this
portion of America from the moment the
aircraft was airborne until the time it
landed.

   A monument to the patriotic, civic,
and Fraternal contributions of
Freemasonry to our nation, the Mobile,
Alabama, Scottish Rite Temple (pictured
opposite page) is one of the most
beautiful and dynamic centers of Masonic
endeavor in America today.
