Tours of the lodge were provided for visitors. According to District Education Officer, Brian Fitzgerald every lodge in the state of Ohio is open to the public as dictated by the grand master to do. This is the first time this has been done.

“It’s just an open house, a come-and-see the place,” Fitzgerald said. “There’s a lot of people who live in town that have never been in and our motto this year is engage and to be engaging the grand master wanted us to open to the public.”

The Temple, formerly known as the Goodwin-Knowles House and originally built in 1890, as a home for one of the Goodwin brothers has been occupied by the Masons and Eastern Stars since 1910. The structure listed on the National Historic Register in 1985, recently underwent $3.5 million in renovations. It is now open to the public and available to rent for meetings, banquets, weddings, birthdays, baby showers or other special occasions. The building can accommodate up to 845 people.

The lodge has a conference/training room, ballroom, parlor, meeting rooms and kitchen and is ADA-compliant with the addition of an elevator.

“We are opening it up to the public to use the building,” Fitzgerald said.

The outside of the lodge was renovated in 2018. In 2021 and 2022, the inside was renovated. Fitzgerald described it as basically a new building.

Lodge member Marcus Trelaine said the community has been supportive. She noted that lamp posts outside the front entrance were obtained with help from the CIC (Community Improvement Corp.) with funds from ARPA, which came through the mayor’s office.

Bricker said the after going through a year renovation which restored the lodge to pristine condition, it has become a must-see building in East Liverpool.

“They have restored the entire facility and it will be a great community asset for years to come,” he said. “It was already a great addition, but they improved it. It’s awesome and it turned out amazing. Now we have to make sure the community knows it’s here and it’s open for use.”

Kent State University will be using the facility for an awards night on May 1.

On May 5 -6 beginning at 3 p.m., the lodge will be open for Beaver and East Liverpool students to use for prom photos.

Trelaine said he expects the calendar to expand and fill.