Arizona republican., 1912-09-12
SHR|NERS WILL
 BUILD TEMPLE
Auditorium to Seat 4OOO People and to Cost $125,
 900 Planned for Erection on North Central Avenue Adjoining School of Music

to believe they will, inside of another
 year Phoenix will have an auditorium
 of attractive architecture, magnificent ly located and capable of seating four
 or five thousand people. It will be
 known as the Shrine Temple and
 of Fl Zaribah Temple of the Ancient
 and Arabic Order of the Nobles of l the Mystic Shrine. Its purpose will | be primarily for the use of the Shrine | which needs just such a structure once or twice a year, and it will be
 made a commercial investment prof
 ect by so equipping it that it can be l used for public gatherings whenever | large convention hall is required The need of such an assembly hall | in Phoenix has long been apparent,
 and the time is rapidly coming when
 it must be met if Phoenix is to live
 up even to her modest ambitions. The lack of such a meeting place has been the chief reason this city never
 has been favored with the national
 convention of any large organizations several such events having been ten |
 gatherings mean in the way of ad-
 vertising a city is too well known to
 require elucidation. It probably has
 been the largest single factor in the
 growth of Los Angeles, assuming of
 course that the city had the natural
 requisites to warrant the growth. just as Phoenix has. And now that the i Shriners have worked out a plan that l 6.ax- ho1i I,I certainly have the cooperation as well as the good wishes of everybody Fl Zaribah temple now owns a lot
 145 feet wide, adjoining the Arizona
 School of Music on the north on North Central avenue, has it paid for
 and also has nice snug sum in it's | treasury. This lot is designed to be
 used as the building site. The temple
 is to be of oriental architecture and 1 though different in style will har- ] moniZe with the architecture of the | Arizona School of Music, making two | fine structures of seni-public char
 acter on the finest show street in the
 city. The building is to cost approx | imately $100.000 and it's furnishings I perhaps s25, 900 more. A preliminary drawing in water colors, showing the
 front of the proposed building has | been made by Frost and Frost. of Fl
 Paso, and transmitted through their ] local representative, Architect Royal | w. Lescher to the Shrine committee
 and it will soon be displayed in some
 prominent show window.
 1 The building will be approximately
 133 feet wide and the length of the 1 lot. The front will be somewhat after
 the style of a masque. having an arch | or dome like effect with wide doors and with towers or minarets at either
 side, and decorated with appropriate 1 Shrine emblems at proper places. A | member of the committee is authori- | ty for the statement that candidates | for membership in the Shrine will be
 compelled to jump from one tower to | the other or be cast into utter dark ness with the ungodly, and they must
 clear this 133 feet in at least two
 jumps.
 The immense auditorium is to be 1 equipped with a floor that can be tilted or leveled as desired, the for mer for auditorium or convention pur-
 poses and the latter for dancing or 1 Shrine use on the occasion of their | impressive and comprehensive initia-
 tion work. It will be well seated for
 public uses and when the chairs are 1 removed there will be floor space for administering the most sublime tor | ture to those who seek for it in order | to be known as faithful sons of Allah
 Also the building will be equipped with a magnificent stage large enough | to accommodate the most elaborate | theatrical production. It is not plan ned to make it a theater or to enter
 into competition with local playhouses, 1 for which reason it is not likely there
 will be any quantity of expensive
 scenery. except such as the order may
 desire for it's own uses; but the stage | will be there with all mechanical | equipment to accommodate the largest scenic productions that cross the | country and that now give this city | the go-by for the dual reason of small stage and small auditorium. In that l connection it is conceived that Phoe- | nix may often secure fine attractions | at prices the public can afford, at | fractions that now wipe Arizona en- II ti1Salv off their map because they II could not make anything even by
 crowding the largest show houses
 available even at the extortionate pri-
 ces the managers are forced to ask.
 If is believed it will be easier to se
 cure an audience of 4000 for big thing at $1 or S1 50 than it is now to
 get an audience of 1000 at two, three
 or four dollars a seat as is neces-
 sarv when the really great artists ap- pear. But more than anything else the purpose is to fill the crying need of a large hall far mass meetings conventions and other great gather fngs of a public nature.
 The general plan of proceeding is to construct the building with the proceeds of a bond issue, details oi which are not yet worked out, or at least have not yet been made public The Shrine which is a state Organiza tion. now has over six hundred mem bers and expects to have 1000 by the end of the year. It is believed a large part of the bond issue vii be taken by the members and the l rest of it by business men who sec I in the enterprise a remunerative in | vestment or who will subscribe through an appreciation of the neet of such building here and a will ;1opacc to heIp secure it. The pro-