Mid-Wilshire Masonic music hail reopens after facelift. (Real Estate).

NEARLY 10 years after closing its doors, the owner of Mid-Wilshire's Scottish Rite Building, which includes a 1,875-seat concert hall, is preparing the 38-year-old structure for a reopening early next year.

On Nov. 26, the 15,000-square-foot American Heritage Masonic Museum was opened on the site, complete with an appearance by the L.A. Jewish Symphony Orchestra. The hall could begin holding regularly scheduled concerts as early as February, according to Morris Shaoulian, president of L.A. Scottish Rite LLC, the building's owner, which spent more than $5 million upgrading the facility.

"We have state of the art acoustics," said Shaoulian. "We changed the seats, the sound system and the lighting."

How the neighbors will respond to the activity remains to be seen. The site, at 4357 Wilshire Blvd., was previously shut down after a rash of noise- and traffic-related complaints from nearby residents. Additionally, the 150,000-square-foot building's conditional use permit requires all events to be "related to a Masonic theme," according to Jane Galbraith, spokeswoman for 4th District City Councilman Tom LaBonge.

"We hope we can come out with a proper program very soon," said Shaoulian, who has addressed the neighborhood concerns by changing the building's entrance to Wilshire Boulevard from Lucerne Boulevard, double-glazing the auditorium's windows and setting up a shuttle system as well as parking lot agreements on Wilshire. "We will be in full cooperation with the city."

Staff reporter Danny King can be reached at [phone] ext. 230, or at [e-mail].