Freemasons still awaiting fire damage report
Users of the Nelson Masonic Hall are still in the dark about the cause and extent of damage done by a fire.
The hall suffered significant damage after a fire began at the Nile St premises on the evening of November 4.
Freemasons Nelson Marlborough District Grand Master Ian McLean said it was still unclear just how much had been damaged or destroyed by the blaze.
‘‘It’s extremely frustrating – we’ve had no access at all, so we don’t know what’s damaged and what isn’t.
‘‘Certainly we have lost memorabilia and records. There’s also stuff in cupboards and other areas that haven’t been affected by fire but may have been affected by the smoke.’’
Mclean said a layer of soot was spread throughout the building.
Ten Masonic organisations used the building, which was the only available Masonic hall in Nelson, he said.
The hall was also used by a number of community groups.
The alarm was raised at 9.50pm on November 4, and it took fire crews several hours to fully extinguish the blaze.
McLean said it could take up to two years before the hall could be reopened, between insurance reports, redesign and construction.
He said that in the meantime, individual lodges had been organising halls they could use while repairs took place.
‘‘You come to terms with it, and that’s it. The place isn’t available, so we do what we can in the short term.
‘‘The Masonic lodge is the people, not the building, so the people will continue to meet in various halls around Nelson until we get back to our own premises.’’
McLean said the Nelson lodges were ‘‘indebted to the community’’ for the support it had shown since the fire.
‘‘There have been lots of people who have already offered us their premises. We’ve been quite astounded by the offers of help we’ve had.’’
Southern Star Lodge secretary Tony Hunter said that while the lodge was still working on a longterm solution to find a building, for the next month it would be back in familiar surrounds.
In October, Southern Star had relocated to the Nile St hall, after the recent sale of its 130-year-old Masonic Temple on Collingwood St.
‘‘The new owner has generously allowed Southern Star to use their old building for a couple of meetings prior to Christmas, so we’re very grateful that they’ve allowed us to do that,’’ Hunter said.