The Enid Masonic Temple (also known as Enid Symphony Center and the Knox Building), is a historic building in

Enid, Oklahoma Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, a ...

. It is the home of the Enid Symphony Orchestra, and was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1984. The

Italian Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ...

building is also located within the Enid Downtown Historic District which became listed on the register in 2007.

History

The building was originally built in the 1920s as a meeting hall for several Garfield County

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

s. During the Great Depression, oilman Charles Knox bought the building (and renamed it the Knox Building). Knox instituted a rent increase that was too steep for the Freemasons, who vacated to other premises. The building was then closed, causing a forty-year period of vacancy. Local legend claims that the building is haunted by an elevator repairman named George, who had fallen to his death in the elevator shaft.

Enid Symphony Center

In the 1990s, the building was renovated and turned into the Enid Symphony Center. Formed in 1905, the Enid Symphony Orchestra is the oldest in the state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. Under the leadership of Symphony director Doug Newell and the Enid Symphony Association, the fourth and fifth floors of the building were renovated in the 1990s at a cost of 3.2 million dollars. The renovations included the Enid Symphony Hall, a theatre hall with 1930s theatre seating, a lobby area with ancient Egyptian decor, Jane Champlin Art Gallery, and the Eleanor Hoehn Hornbaker Banquet Hall. In addition to being the home of Enid's orchestra, the

Gaslight Theatre The Gaslight Theatre is a nonprofit theatre troupe and venue in Enid, Oklahoma. Founded in 1966 as the Enid Community Theatre, the group stages productions of ten plays per year, including Shakespeare in the Park, musicals, and dinner theatre. Si ...

also holds a yearly dinner theatre production at the Enid Symphony Center.

References

{{Enid Oklahoma, state=expanded Masonic buildings completed in 1924 Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Former Masonic buildings in Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Enid, Oklahoma Concert halls in the United States Italian Renaissance Revival architecture in the United States Tourist attractions in Enid, Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Garfield County, Oklahoma Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Oklahoma