The Shrine Armory

The El Kahir Shrine building committee took the first step to build a new temple in 1926 when Chairman James Blake announced that the once-opulent three-story brick house and barn sitting on the corner of A Avenue and Sixth Street NE needed to be moved.

The home had belonged to George W. Bever, vice president of City National Bank and treasurer of Bever Land Co.

Bids to remove the buildings were accepted at Blake's office in the Dows Building until 7 p.m. April 27.

Meanwhile, architect Raymond Moore worked feverishly to let bids and get construction underway by July 1. Those plans were derailed when the bids, not opened until August, were set aside as the building committee asked for alterations to the plans. At a meeting of about 300 members of the El Kahir Shrine, new plans raising the appropriation to the building fund were approved.

'Our appropriation was increased to $410,000 in order that we might erect a building the committee is satisfied will be a credit to the Shrine, the original appropriation not being sufficient,' Chairman Blake declared. In all probability, he said, contracts would be let at once. Soon after, Paulson Construction was awarded the contract.

Once building commenced, a controversy arose with the city about what to do with the dirt from the temple excavation. That was resolved when the city agreed to purchase about 11,000 yards of dirt for 65 cents a yard. Mayor Loftus said that no other dirt would be available for fill on the island construction of the new Veterans Memorial Coliseum until the following year and probably not for a better price. He explained that with free dirt from the Roosevelt Hotel site and the price of the Shrine dirt, the city was paying half of what the contractor on the island estimated. The dirt from the Shrine excavation was used for fill under the bridges and behind the sea walls.

Paulson Construction was working on the walls and footings of the temple when the ceremony was planned for the laying of the cornerstone. Charles Sumner Lobingier, chief attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington was the principal speaker at that ceremony on April 28, 1927. Nearly a month later, brick and terra cotta work was only about a story high on the building. While other buildings, including the consistory next door were rising at a much faster pace, the Moorish-style design of the Shrine Temple required more time. The temple featured domes on the four corners like a Moroccan castle.

The last roof truss on the huge building was erected in July and the roof was completed by the end of September. The last of the domes was poured and put in place the first week of October by U.S. Gypsum Co. Plasterers and bricklayers continued the interior work through the end of the month.

The high ceiling was painted blue to simulate a night sky with twinkling stars. A cloud machine projected 'great banks of clouds moving across the horizon.' A reporter from The Gazette said a dining hall in the basement comfortably seated 1,140 people.

With an auditorium seating capacity of 2,100, the completed structure became a focal point for entertainment in the region through the 1930s. The writer of a Gazette column remembered the star of Gershwin's 'Of Thee I Sing' was a girl named Harriet Lake. 'In later years millions came to know her as Ann Sothern. Otis Skinner played the Shrine temple in an Oriental play. Phil Baker starred in one of the best musical revues of the era, 'Crazy Quilt.' Will Rogers packed the place all by himself, standing in front of the curtain and drawling out his monologue.'

Starting in February 1932, the Cedar Rapids Board of Education contracted to rent the auditorium for three years at a cost of $3,500 per year. All high school physical education classes and athletic events were held there, along with school assemblies.

The Udesen Temple Roller Rink opened there as well and was immediately popular. Martin Udesen sold the rink to Kenneth Hoefner in July 1941. Hoefner operated it until the early 1950s.

The Iowa National Guard took up residence in 1941 after the Great Depression made the upkeep of the huge building difficult for the Shriners. In 1951, Louis D. Burkhalter, Jr., a colonel commanding the reserve corps of the Iowa-Minnesota 103rd infantry division artillery, bought the building to ensure that the National Guard could keep the space. It became known as the Shrine Armory.

Parts of the auditorium were sectioned off into classrooms for the National Guard, and recruitment activities were held there. Seats along the balcony and higher were removed, some of them finding their way to the Footlighters (later the Cedar Rapids Community Theatre). Burkhalter donated about 175 theater seats from the auditorium when the theater group acquired the old Strand Theater at 1124 Third St. SE. Those seats originally were sponsored by Shrine Temple members and still had the donors' brass nameplates attached.

With an ambitious Cedar Lake urban renewal project in the 1960s, the city wanted to buy the Shrine Armory. It was supposed to be vacated by the end of December 1966, but the Guard was having trouble finding temporary quarters that were suitable and affordable. The Guard was paying $16,000 a year, including maintenance, for the Shrine building. Other spaces were listed at $25,000 to $30,000. Temporary quarters were necessary for at least two years while the Guard waited for approval and construction of a new building.

When the Guard found a temporary space on Sixth Street SW, the city took title on the old armory on April 1, 1968. The cost was $138,000. Demolition began immediately.

What is left of the Shrine Armory space is now parking for the Scottish Rite Temple on A Avenue NE.

l Comments: (319) 398-8338; diane.langton@sourcemedia.net