The Scottish Rite Temple Then and Now
2011
Fowler Methodist Episcopal Church, now known as the Scottish Rite Temple was designed by architects Warren H. Hayes and Harry Wild Jones. Hayes submitted the original design for the chapel in 1894, but financial difficulties and Hayes’ death put construction on hold for a while. Harry Wild Jones took over the project and brought it to completion in 1906. The Fowler Methodist Episcopal Church, now the Scottish Rite Temple, marks the only combined architectural effort by noted Minnesota architects Warren H. Hayes and Harry Wild Jones. Named in honor of the Bishop Fowler, the original designs for the chapel were submitted by Hayes in 1894. However, financial difficulties as well as the death of the architect halted further construction until 1906 when Jones brought the project to completion. Designed in the Romanesque Style, the main walls are composed of rough-cut, pink Jasper while the buttresses are made from red sand stone. Above the entrance on Franklin Avenue, a 24-foot diameter “rose” window divided into 12 divisions of “petals” all beautifully glazed with leaded stained glass, is featured.
1967?
The Fowler congregation merged with the Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church in 1915, and the Scottish Rite Temple bought the building the next year. They made some modifications to the auditorium to accommodate Masonic rituals, but most of the original features were kept, including extensive use of stained glass. The exterior is built of hard quartzite from southwestern Minnesota, along with red sandstone trim. It has two massive towers, three arches over the entry porch, and a 24-foot-diameter (7.3 m) rose window.The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
