The Scottish Rite Cathedral, now named the Scottish Rite Theatre, is church-style building in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

that houses the

Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the Sco ...

Bodies Bodies may refer to: * The plural of body * ''Bodies'' (2004 TV series), BBC television programme * Bodies (upcoming TV series), an upcoming British crime thriller limited series * "Bodies" (''Law & Order''), 2003 episode of ''Law & Order'' * ...

of the Valley of Peoria. The building is at 400 NE Perry Avenue, at the corner with Spalding Avenue. The cathedral is listed as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to Peoria's North Side Historic District. The Scottish Rite Bodies of the Valley of Peoria was established in

Yates City, Illinois Yates City is a village in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The population was 693 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Yates City was named after Yates County, New York. Clinton L. Ewin ...

on 25 February 1867, and moved to Peoria in 1869. The body had 3 meeting locations in downtown Peoria before the Scottish Rite Cathedral. The

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

for the Scottish Rite Cathedral was laid on 7 May 1924. The cathedral design features

flying buttresses The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...

and

symbolic Symbolic may refer to: * Symbol, something that represents an idea, a process, or a physical entity Mathematics, logic, and computing * Symbolic computation, a scientific area concerned with computing with mathematical formulas * Symbolic dynamic ...

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows. The cathedral has an auditorium with a stage and 900 seats. The Masonic membership in the Valley of Peoria was near 15,000 at one time, but had dropped to 1,200 by 2019, and was having trouble affording the maintenance of the building. Kim Blickenstaff, who grew up in nearby East Peoria, bought the Cathedral on April 26, 2019, for $490,000, with plans to put it in a trust, operate it as a community venue, and allow Scottish Rite members to use the venue in perpetuity.

References

External links

Scottish Rite Theatre
— official site * — former official site Organizations established in 1867 Masonic buildings completed in 1924 1920s architecture in the United States Buildings and structures in Peoria, Illinois Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Historic district contributing properties in Illinois Masonic buildings in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Peoria County, Illinois {{Illinois-struct-stub