Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1379’s building in Jacksonville has been sold to Harmony Masonic Lodge No. 3.

The philanthropy non-profit bought the building at 903 E. Monroe St. with the help of a member donation from Jacksonville philanthropists Rabbi Rob Thomas and his wife, Lauren Thomas.

“We had approached this from the aspect of making the purchase ourselves from our endowment, and they (Rob Thomas and Lauren Thomas) made that offer when it looked like this would be a reality,” lodgemaster Jeremy Coumbes said.

The couple donated about $200,000 for the purchase. Court records list the selling price as $215,000.

Plans are for the lodge to move into the VFW building, which has more space, Coumbes said, noting a more specific timeframe for the move should be clear “within two weeks to a month.”

“It’s the probably first time in a decade that we have been able to have positive growth over those two years,” Coumbes said.

The space in which the lodge now meets can comfortably hold around 25 people, while the lodge has 191 members, he said. 

Financing the move was important to the community because of the room needed to run all the programs and projects the lodge wants to do, Thomas said.

“We want to grow those programs but, again, if you don’t have a place to do it, it just makes everything much more difficult,” Thomas said.

Scott Frazier, quartermaster for the VFW post, said he’s split on the building’s sale, though he doesn’t see the loss of the building changing the organization.

“Part of me wishes we still had the building, part of me is is perfectly fine with it,” Frazier said. “At that point and stage in our journey at the VFW, we didn’t have enough money to keep up with repairs and stuff like that … It was inevitable that we had to do it, but it’s going to be sad.”

The building was built by members of Post 1379, a veterans service organization. 

The building already is empty, with awards and important items being held in storage, Frazier said. Everything else from the building has been sold, he said.

The post temporarily is meeting at Amvets, 210 E. Court St., but plans to use money from the sale to find a new building of its own.

Upgrades to the former VFW building will be financed by the lodge.