New Britain herald., 1922-09-19
ODD FELLOWSPLAN ID ENLARGE HALLS Will Add to Present Building and
 Alter Front WOULD COST ABOUT S1S,00o


 Possibility of System in Town Plan to Display Map of Propose,
 Districts.
 At the recent meeting of Sequasser lodge. l. o. o. F., plans were dis cussed for adding about 30 feet in the rear of the present building on Wes, Main street and enlarging the meet ing halls on the second and third floors of the place. Max Unkelbact Of New Britain has submitted severa sketches in regards to the proposed changes and it is estimated that with a new front on the building. and the addition on the rear, the sum of ap- proximately sls,Ooo will be spent
 A committee was elected to devise ways and means of raising the money for the work and they are President R. J. Coe. A. A. Mcleod, Harry Bon ney, Mir. Aspinall and Mr Raymond.
 The plans submitted by Mir. Un- kelbach show but few changes on the first floor which is now occupied by the Prior Drug store and w. J. Simpson, grocer. There will, however, be stairway in the back of the drug store leading to the driveway The rest of the space of the 30 foot addition would allow for room 20 by 30 feet which the directors of the club feel could be used for storage room and may be rented out
 The second floor will undergo a radical change inasmuch as the 3O- foot addition would be made into a banquet hall and do away with the one now on the third floor. The kitchen would be fin the corner near the stairway adn a toilet room would the stairway and toilet room now is. A section on the right hand side of the stairway would be used as an office. This would provide for the Plainville Water company. now oc- c6pying space on the second floor, with one more room and give them ] larger quarters. The other side of the hall would be enlarged for the | Chamber of Commerce to meet and provide for a larger place than they now occupy on the second floor in the building.
 The third floor, which is used by i the sequassen lodge as meeting place, the Knights of Pythias, Pythian Sisters, The Foresters of America and | the Martha Rebekah lodge as we'll as the Sequassen club will undergo some changes At the present time there are two small ante-rooms, a banquet hall kitchen and the large hall where the meetings are held. All these rooms will be made into one great hall and the walls separat- l ing the sections will be torn down. That will provide for a room large enough to accommodate the lodge members and other associations dur ing various affairs. Sequassen lodge holds events every season and the need of a larger hall has been seen for some time. It takes but small crowd to fill the present hall as many of the Plainville people know having attended affairs there.
 The present stairway would still be there and it is planned to have one running straight from every floor There would Ee a dressing room on the northwest corner of the hall about 16 by IS feet. It is the architects idea to have the two ante rooms worked into dressing rooms and allow for a locker room directly in back of the staircase.
 Mir. Unklebach has suggested an ether change to the lodge members and that is of altering the front of the building. This constitutes brick veneer on the front of the place and changing the heads and cir cular windows. working in a small or namental window.
 On the first floor of the building, new store front would be erected for the drug and grocery stores which would be practically glass up to the level of the second floor. A small roof would be put over that section. The lodge property runs over to the curb now and if the Town Plan com mission establishes four foot build ing line on West Main street, which they are now considering, it would bring the building back four foot to the curb line and allow for wide space in front on the sidewalk.
 Mir. Unkelbach suggested that the first thing to do would be to fix up the front of the building and make a suitable looking place. He reasoned that it would increase the value of 1t considerably. The estimated cost of changing the front with veneered brick and new store fronts has been placed at s2,50o. The members of the lodge were very much in favor of altering the front of the building. l
 Harry Bonney speaking to the members on the proposition, felt that the lodge should do something such | as they have in mind and modernize the place. He felt that the lodge could then bring in visitors from all parts of the state and be able to ac- commo odate them better than at the | present time.
 A suggestion for raising the money for the changes was to solicit the members A committee was then appointed to investigate the matter and make report at later meet ing. Chairman Coe made an amend ment that if enough money was not raised for the work, the committee