Effort underway to save site where Duke, Billie and Cab once held sway

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Jazz great Miles Davis' trumpet once wailed in this city's Tuscan Lodge, where Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday and Cab Calloway also have held court over the building's 112 years.

Now, the longtime owners of the storied landmark once billed as "an ornament to the city" are pushing to preserve those memories.

Tuscan Lodge No. 44, a black Masonic order that used the building for nearly a century, has applied for grant funds to rehab the building and is working to add the lodge to the city's registry of historic places

The former community center has an extensive history, says LaRue Love, the lodge's secretary and past master.

"It is one of the oldest African-American-owned buildings in town, and our whole goal is to save the building," he said.

Showing its age and edging toward condemnation, the structure on the corner of town square was vacated by the Masons about a decade ago. But the organization is now championing the site's historical and cultural significance.

The building was constructed in 1894 and bought nine years later by its current owners.

Over the years, the lodge's performers included Davis, Ellington and Calloway, who lead one of America's most popular big bands in the 1930s and 1940s. Two restaurants also called the building home at one time.

City planner Chris Wallace said the preservation commission would consider the lodge's architectural and historic significance in deciding whether to declare it a landmark and make a recommendation to the city council.

"They really look at what makes the building special," he said.

If added to the city's historic registry, he said, the building could not be razed or have its exterior altered without city approval.

Love said developers have contacted the Masons about possible commercial uses for the building, but the priority is to repair damage and achieve landmark status.

The lodge has a leaky roof that has resulted in interior water damage, and any use of the building's second floor could require installation of an elevator, increasing the cost of any renovation effort by thousands of dollars, said Tom Grant, the city's manager of building and neighborhood services.

A fire earlier this year also damaged the building's interior.

"It's in need of some tender loving care," Grant said.

Last year, the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois named Tuscan Lodge among the state's 10 most-endangered historic places. The list calls attention to sites threatened by deterioration, insufficient funds and lack of maintenance.