Even temples of stone piled on high are not enough. God is to be consecrated in one's own breast.

Months and months of searching, planning, financing, negotiations, frus- trations, and wrestling with endless problems preceded construction and final occupancy and use of the new San Jose Masonic Temple at 2500 Masonic Drive Monday night, Apri14, 1974--and that happy event by chance fell the lot of Golden Rule Lodge No.479, a stated meeting.

It now is the home of six Blue Lodges, two York Rite Bodies, and seven Masonic-oriented groups on a rising hillside near the intersection of Curtner Avenue and Canoas Garden Drive and served by Almaden Expressway, below the structure an expanded view of sprawling San Jose--indeed, a night scene worthy of a poet.

Our temple is on a 4.311-acre site. Its frontage measures 175 feet 6 inches and its depth 148 feet 7 inches to give it a ground floor area of 26,079 square feet, in addition to which along the west wall is a storage area on the ground floor supporting a second floor of 30x148 feet 7 inches to bring the total to 30,534 square feet.

Inside are three lodge rooms, large lobby, three dining rooms seating more than 400 persons, large kitchen, and numerous smaller rooms for vari- ous purposes, plus a built-in custodian's apartment.

On the grounds are 210 parking stalls and room for 50 to 60 more cars on roadways. Landscaping will show to pleasing advantage in the months ahead, its shrubs provided with automatic irrigation. And proudly pointing 40 feet into the sky are three flagpoles.

The total bill--$130,000 for the land, $735,000 for the building, $18,000 for lodgeroom chairs--adds up to $883,000. And it is all paid for.

It was something of a sad good-bye to the old San Jose Masonic Temple at 272 South First Street, three stories and basement, space for three retail stores on the street level, which had served Masonic activities for 62 years (1912 until April, 1974). On its completion, the temple was considered one of the finest such in California.

But the time came when, in an urban renewal program, that temple was condemned by the City of San Jose Redevelopment Agency which issued an ultimatum, rebuild or build somewhere else. Somewhere else was the only obvious alternative.

After selling the property to the agency for $627,229.20 on April 20, 1971, with the proviso that the temple could be used by Masonic groups until they had a new temple or the City of San Jose had use for the land, advantage was taken of the proviso until April, 1974.

Before and after the sale to the agency, intensive and prolonged search was made for the site of the new temple. Thirty-eight possible sites were considered. Ultimately, our southwest corner location on California Scottish f' Rite Foundation 38-acre property, later annexed to the city, was deeded over July 9, 1973.

Meanwhile, directors of the San Jose Masonic Temple Association offered its $735,000 cash in hand to Carl N. Swenson, himself a charter member of John P. Jarman Lodge No.669, and told him that was the limit they had for the cost of the new building and wanted all they could get for the money. He accepted, and his company, Carl N. Swenson Co., general contractors, stuck to that figure even though in the ensuing months building costs spiraled along with the general inflation the country has experienced.

Delivery of the deed July 9, 1973, was the green ligh-t for construction to start. Gradmg stakes were placed the next day and two days later actual construction of the slab-style building began. By January 1, 1974, it appeared that temple occupancy would be possible in March, so Saturday, March 3, was set for the cornerstone laying. But heavy rains in late February and early March delayed that ceremony until Saturday, August 10, 1974. The most Worshipful Raymond A. Ebbage, Grand Master of Masons in Calif- ornia, was the central figure in the ceremony in the presence of 30 Grand Lodge officers and 450 spectators.

Weather or not, occupancy was only a near miss for a target date be- cause even April 4 pushed lodge officers and members to get their furnish- ings and the thousand and one items needed in lodge operation moved into the new temple.

Golden Rule is especially grateful to Past Master Ray Oberg for repre- senting the lodge on the hall association in its prolonged search and conquest rewarded in the end by noble achievement. Not the least of Bro. Oberg's contributions was fashioning the copper "time capsule" sealed within another copper container in the cornerstone for posterity to find and cherish.

To quote Past Master Ralph E. Richards of San Jose Lodge No.10, thairman of the association directorate who devoted endless days and hours of his talents to the cause, "We might not have the finest Masonic Temple there is, but we certainly got our money's worth."