The synagogue is said to have been the first building in town to have its cornerstone laid by the recently organized Victoria chapter of the Freemasons. A second cornerstone was laid on the same day by a member of the congregation's Building Committee. A time capsule was ceremoniously buried. It included not only the congregation's constitution, a list of donors tho the building fund, some coins, and a copy of the local newspaper, the "British Colonist", still publishing today as the Victoria "Times-Colonist", but the full membership lists of the Germania Sing Verein and French Benevolent Society of Victoria.