Published: May 09, 2009 08:13 pm      

I.O.O.F. makes plans for property

New headquarters, convention center on drawing board

By Janet Jacobs

Daily Sun



In the coming week, the International Order of Odd Fellows intends to announce plans to renovate the former I.O.O.F. Orphanage into a modern convention center. The plans call for slicing away chunks of the old orphanage, preserving the very best of the buildings, and creating new spaces for meetings, weddings and other events.

The property currently consists of the old administration building, a large two-story auditorium with a drained Olympic-sized swimming pool and gym in the basement, three utility buildings, some smaller cottages, and the grand lodge offices.

“The concept is to look at the old administration building, remove the two dorm wings, and put it back to the way it looked in 1904, which was Corsicana red brick, now whitewashed,” explained Jim Redinger, a member of the Springtown Lodge No. 75.

That building, with a modern addition, would become the new office headquarters from which the officers could oversee the business of the fraternity. The grand lodge oversees retirement homes, a nursing home, and 130 pieces of property in the state, employs 120 people and has an annual payroll of $2.5 million. That business, which is a charitable organization, still needs modern computers and office space. Also included in that concept is a meeting space for the members, a research library, and a museum for the lodge’s antiquities, now in storage.

“We’ve got genealogical information going back 150 years,” Redinger pointed out.

The second phase of the transformation project is to build a public meeting space suitable for conventions and banquets, able to seat 500 or 600 people for a meal.

“A large enough space where we can hold our own sessions, but also have something large enough so the community can help us with rentals, by bringing in large community meetings, like banquets and weddings,” Redinger explained. “The chamber and hospital have said ‘if you will build it, we will rent it,’ and we need to be able to defray the costs.”

Phases one and two are likely to be done simultaneously.

The third phase of the project is to renovate the Abel Rice Auditorium, adding modern touches such as air conditioning. The swimming pool and gym would be taken out, and the basement turned into an exhibit space for meetings or conventions.

The project won’t be cheap, and the lodge is hoping to find enough local support from people willing to rent it for business or private gatherings to help make the payments on the loan, explained James Curtis, the grand secretary who is essentially the business manager of the lodge.

“This is probably going to cost us around $9 million,” Curtis said.

The I.O.O.F. is a fraternal order with about 1,500 members in Texas. At one time, it was a much larger group, but like a lot of civic groups, its membership has aged and dwindled. Still, the fellowship members are proud of their 150-year heritage in Texas, which is one of the reasons for the project.

“We’ve got about 100 acres here, and the old white building, the old orphans’ home building will be renovated. We’ll keep it because it’s part of the heritage, the historical part of our order,” Curtis said. “We’ve got a heritage we’re very proud of. Our motto is to visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan.”

This project is the culmination of two years of internal discussions among the order’s leadership.

“It’s something that several of us have worked hard on for the last two years,” Curtis said. “When you know you’ve got to go before a body of Odd Fellows members and get enough of them to back you on something like this is not an easy task. We did have people who said it costs too much money, but we felt like if we couldn’t get something like this going we’re going to die on the vine. This should cause enthusiasm throughout our order.”

It’s also causing some enthusiasm among local business people, who say a convention center suitable for small to medium-sized groups will fit perfectly in Corsicana.

“This is going to prove to be a significant economic engine for our community,” said Lee McCleary, economic development director for both Corsicana and Navarro County. “We’ll be able to draw in conferences and meetings from internally and externally. There was a strong show of support all across our community for this facility, and strong support for helping the I.O.O.F. and Rebekahs market this facility externally.”

Corsicana is centrally located, has museums and dining, a lake for outdoor recreation, and few of the big-city negative aspects, such as pollution, crime or traffic, McCleary said.

“And we’ve got a friendly attitude that you’re not going to find in a major city,” he said. “It’s one of those things that if you think about it, makes sense.”

McCleary predicted that a convention center in Corsicana would be a huge success. “And I’m thrilled they selected our community to build this,” McCleary added. “I’m honored from a community standpoint that they chose us.”

E. Dixon Toney, who has been both a grand master and a grand secretary, has had the dream of transforming the property for more than 15 years.

“The grand lodge was built in 1962, and we’ve needed a new grand lodge with room for a server. I said ‘Hey, one of these days we’re going to have to build a new grand lodge, why not renovate the facilities we’ve got?’”

Toney has a friend who grew up in the orphanage, and he sees a direct tie to the site’s legacy in this project.

He admits there has been concern about the money needed for such a large project, but he sees it as an act of optimism.

In 1884, when the Odd Fellows broke ground to build an orphanage and widows’ home in Corsicana, they didn’t have the money for that project up front, he argued.

“Our forefathers had to step out on faith, just like we have to step out on faith,” he said.

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Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com