{"id":1316668,"date":"2019-11-13T14:32:43","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T21:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=990804"},"modified":"2019-11-13T14:32:43","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T21:32:43","slug":"rifle-masonic-lodge-looking-to-renovate-aging-structure-along-railroad-avenue-with-help-from-state-historical-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/rifle-masonic-lodge-looking-to-renovate-aging-structure-along-railroad-avenue-with-help-from-state-historical-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Rifle Masonic Lodge looking to renovate aging structure along Railroad Avenue with help from State Historical Society"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ron Roesener walks through the main floor of the lodge building on Railroad Avenue in Rifle. Many of the original wood craftsmanship still remain in the 105 year old building. (Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram)<\/strong>
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

One step into the Masonic Lodge on Railroad Avenue is like a trip back in time, turning the clock back decades. <\/p>\n

Craftsmanship and ornate wood details surround the old stairway and wrap-around the doorways. Two large classic Westinghouse stoves fill the small kitchen on the main floor.<\/p>\n

For nearly a decade now Ron Roesener, a 32nd Degree Mason from Parachute, has been working to save the home to the Freemason Lodge No. 129 in Rifle.<\/p>\n

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For over 100 years the Free Mason\u2019s of Rifle and the surrounding area have been meeting at the lodge located on Railroad Avenue. (Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram)<\/strong>
MasonicLodge-rct-111419-1<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent since 2011 working with the Colorado Historical Society to get recognition for our lodge,\u201d Roesener said.<\/p>\n

The Rifle Masonic Lodge, which dates back to 1912, originally met above what is now the Smoke Shop at the corner of Fourth Street and Railroad Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur original meeting room was upstairs in that building,\u201d Roesener said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Masonic organization had grown so much that they moved down valley and opened their next lodge in Rifle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roesener said at one point in time the lodge had 378 members. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe currently have about 50 members, a lot of whom are in nursing homes right now,\u201d Roesener said. \u201cWe have enough that we can have bi-monthly meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ron Roesener looks at one of the windows in the lodge, all the windows are original to the building. (Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram)<\/strong>
MasonicLodge-rct-111419-3<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

With membership dipping over the years the lodge, which operates with the help of membership dues, has not been able to keep up with regular repairs.<\/p>\n

Like many structures that are over a century old the building that houses the Masonic Lodge has fallen on hard time and is in need of updating and restoration.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the background and historical work I\u2019ve done on it, at one time we owned most of the block the building is on,\u201d Roesener said. \u201cHaving been opened in 1914 and in use since then on a regular basis, there has never been a time when it was shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fourth-generation freemason, Roesener considers this a passion project.<\/p>\n

He fought for two years to get historical recognition of the building from the city of Rifle.<\/p>\n

Roesener is currently working with the Colorado Historical Society to secure grants to help with the project. <\/p>\n

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Ron Roesener looks at the pictures of leaders of the Freemasons that line the Masonic Lodge meeting hall going back to 1908. (Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram)<\/strong>
MasonicLodge-rct-111419-2<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

A year ago Roesener received a grant from the Colorado historical society totaling $35,000 to engage an architectural firm and construction analyst to look at the lodge and see what exactly it needed.<\/p>\n

He found an architect, Jessica Reske who specializes in historic preservation.<\/p>\n

Roesener said the architectural firm found that there are four different types of electrical wiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t maintain what we have, eventually there is going to be a problem,\u201d Roesener said.<\/p>\n

Two industrial-sized furnaces, one for the first floor from 1951, heat the building and the other is for the second floor from 1952.<\/p>\n

Roesener said If you sit in the lodge on a windy day you will see the sheer curtains sway back and forth as the air passes through the original single pain windows.<\/p>\n

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The meeting hall for the Masonic Lodge members in Rifle remains mostly the same since the buildings construction in 1914. (Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram)<\/strong>
MasonicLodge-rct-111419-5<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI have a passion for this place, it is part of my life, its part of my ancestry,\u201d Roesener said.<\/p>\n

Roesener just learned two weeks ago that he would be receiving another $34,000 from the historical society to help with planning for the restoration.<\/p>\n

He said he has been able to raise an additional $12,000 \u2013 some of which has to go to replacing the water heater recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy greatest supporters financially have been the Garfield County Commissioners. They have given us their discretionary funds they can award twice a year, and twice they\u2019ve given checks for the lodge for $5,000,\u201d Roesener said. \u201cWhat we are shooting for is once we get all the approval through the state, they will cut us our first check for $250,000 to go towards the refurbishment of the lodge.\u201d <\/p>\n

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One of the intrecate door knockers upstairs in the Masonic Lodge meeting hall. (Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram)<\/strong>
MasonicLodge-rct-111419-4<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Roesener said he will know for sure within the next 6-10 months if the state will be funding the restoration.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to get the lodge completely redone and made safe,\u201d Roesener said.<\/p>\n

kmills@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ron Roesener walks through the main floor of the lodge building on Railroad Avenue in Rifle. Many of the original wood craftsmanship still remain in the 105 year old building. (Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram) One step into the Masonic Lodge on Railroad Avenue is like a trip back in time, turning the clock back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1316668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 13:33:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}