The last meeting in the old Lodge Room was held on March 5, 1917 and the Lodge began work in their new Lodge Room in the Cape Traverse Hall on April 2, 1917. The Dedication was held on May 24, 1917 with Grand Master, M.W.Bro. A.S. MacKay presiding. Bro. Dougherty was acting Worshipful Master in the absence of W.Bro. W.H.P. Irving. Twenty-eight Brethren attended and the Lodge Secretary wrote that the Ceremony “to us was new and impressive.” The Grand Master referred to the new Lodge Room as a “magnificent home … one of the finest in the country and suitably furnished.” (Grand Lodge Proceedings,1917, p.22)

Following Bro. Dougherty’s death in 1920 his barn was moved to Borden and converted into an Orange Hall. It later served as a bottle exchange and was dismantled several years ago. (Interview, W.Bro. Howard Clark PM, March 1, 2000)

The Brethren contributed labour and resources to the preparation and furnishing of the new Lodge Room. The History of Saint Andrew’s Lodge No. 13 in Montague states that one member had visited the new Mount Moriah Lodge in 1917 and observed that it had “very little furniture.” He noted that some Lodges were giving furniture. Saint Andrew’s Lodge approved a motion to donate a set of Charts for Mount Moriah on June 4, 1917. (A replacement set has since been bought and the old Charts presently hang in the Lodge Office in Central Bedeque).

The Lodge wasted no time in attracting new members to the new facilities. The first Petition was from Harry Webster of Augustine Cove. At the second Communication in the new Hall on May 7, 1917 individual Degrees were conferred for three candidates. Bro. Arthur MacPherson ( Entered Apprentice), Bro. B.A. Strang (Fellow Craft) and Bro Wm. Waddell (Master Mason). The Worshipful Master was W. Bro. W.H. Irving. In the first decade after moving to the new facility the Lodge membership increased from twenty-eight to sixty-seven. (Grand Lodge Proceedings1917-1927).

As membership grew the issue of governance got needed attention. The Lodge had never drafted a set of Bye-Laws but had relied on “what here-to-fore had been mutually agreed upon from time to time.” On December 27, 1915 the Worshipful Master, W.Bro. Wm. Dougherty, established a Committee to draft a set of Bye-Laws. The Bye Laws that were subsequently presented were accepted by the Lodge and sanctioned by Grand Lodge in 1921. (The original copy of the Bye-Laws as approved by Grand Lodge in 1921 is in the Lodge Library. The copy was signed by the Worshipful Master. W.Bro. Warren Lord and the Secretary, W.Bro. Frank MacFarlane PM.)