Greenville’s historic Masonic temple will rise from the ashes.
The Masonic Hall on Pritham Avenue was gutted in an early morning fire in December.
Over the past nine months, the Columbia-Doric Lodge No. 149 has worked and prepared to rebuild, and site preparations started Wednesday, according to the Moosehead Historical Society.
Interior demolition begins next week and is expected to take three weeks.
The restoration, being done by E.W. Littlefield Inc. and Sons, will preserve the hall’s four brick walls and exterior appearance.
“Keeping those four walls means a great deal to the lodge and to the community,” Luke Muzzy, a lodge member and executive director of the Moosehead Historical Society, said in a Wednesday statement. “We’re happy to tell people that the temple will be rebuilt and will still look very much like the building they remember.”
Crews will be restoring the roof, windows and entrance to their former appearance. The same goes for the upstairs lodge room.
But some changes are coming to the historic property, including moving the kitchen from the basement to the first floor, which, along with a ramp, will make breakfasts, dinners and gatherings more accessible to the public. The basement will then become space for lodge members, according to the historical society.
The fire broke out at the Masonic Hall about 1:07 a.m. on Dec. 15, 2025.
When firefighters arrived, they discovered heavy flames, and video and photos from the scene showed flames roaring up from the lodge’s roof.
Investigators concluded that the fire began in the basement kitchen. But the extent of the damage has prevented the fire marshal’s office from determining the blaze’s cause.
The lodge has loomed over Pritham Avenue since its construction in 1929, paid for by merchant Arthur Crafts.
There is currently no timeline for the completion of the reconstruction.