Trespassers Arrested At Old, Abandoned Masonic Home

TAPPAN, NY — Orangetown police arrested four people from Pennsylvania Saturday at the old Masonic Home on Western Highway. The four were trespassing in the historic site, which is one of many old, decaying sites featured on the internet by those who like to explore abandoned buildings.

For example, the building was part of an episode of Abandoned on YouTube.

According to ScoutingNY.com, which got a tour from the owners in 2012,

The land for the site, 20 acres in all, was purchased by the German Masons in 1872 for $14,500; construction on the Hall began in 1906 and finished in 1909. From then until 1983, the building was a residence hall for Masons and their kin in an attempt to “shield the individual against the blasts of an adverse fate,” according to a Masonic historian.

The Masonic Home is across Western Highway from the German Masonic Park, fairgrounds that host several festivals a year, and home of the Masons' annual October festival, Traubenfest. Both properties are privately owned, by a consortium of German-American Masonic Lodges.

The park was the focus of a screaming dispute among neighbors, Rockland cultural groups, Masons and Orangetown politicians back in 2013.

Plans were announced in 2016 to turn the Masonic Home site into a community center for senior citizens.

The four men arrested at 10:56 a.m. Saturday included two 19-year-olds from Philadelphia whom police did not identify, plus Alexander Dunston, 30, of Philadelphia and Anthanasios Serdenes, 24, of Glen Rock PA. They were each charged with third-degree criminal trespass, a misdemeanor. They're due back in court Jan. 19.

SEE ALSO:

• Orangetown Supervisor Denies Rumors of Town Closing Masonic Park
  
• Masonic Park to Open for Orangetown Summer Camp

PHOTO/ Ryan Buncher

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