Zen Buddhist Temple

The Zen Buddhist Temple building was erected in 1922 as the Imperial Lodge Hall. It is a 3-story brick and cement structure with geometric ornamentation in the façade and throughout the interior, features typical of the emerging Art Deco style. The 2nd floor Meditation Hall is a majestic high-ceilinged space with original light fixtures and large golden statues donated from the Daegaksa Temple in Seoul, South Korea. The distinctive shape of the exterior arched entryway is repeated in vestibule woodwork and in an upper floor fireplace, which also incorporates the Masonic imagery of the rose and five-pointed stars. The building was repurposed in the 1960s as a Christian church, and renovated again in 1992 to become the current Zen Buddhist Temple. The structure was designed by Adolph Woerner, a German architect of local significance, who planned many neighborhood domestic dwellings, commercial buildings, and community spaces.