AKA: Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Tacoma Lodge #174, Tacoma, WA; McMenamins Elks Temple, Tacoma, WA

Structure Type: built works - commercial buildings - pubs; built works - commercial buildings - restaurants; built works - dwellings -public accommodations - hotels; built works - recreation areas and structures

Designers: Andersen Construction Company (firm); Ankrom Moisan Architects, Incorporated (firm); Champney, Edouard Frere, Architect (firm); David Andersen (building contractor); H. A. Andersen (building contractor); Stewart Ankrom (architect); Édouard Frère Champney (architect); Thomas Moisan (architect)

Dates: constructed 1914-1915

7 stories, total floor area: 44,000 sq. ft.

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565 Broadway
Tacoma, WA 98402-3907

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Building History

The cosmopolitan, École-trained, Seattle architect, Édouard Frère Champney (1874-1929), designed this building for the Tacoma Elks in 1914-1915. He entered an architectural competition that drew fourteen entries, and his three-floor, Beaux-Arts townhouse design was ajudicated the winner.

Building Notes

The Elks Temple was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, as part of the Old City Hall Historic District.

Alteration

In 07/2009, developers Grace Pleasants and Rick Moses looked to buy the Elks Lodge in Downtown Tacoma, WA, and sell it and and its property to the McMenamins chain of brewhouse restaurants, based in Portland, OR. McMenamins hoped to remodel the Elks building into a brewhouse-hotel-spa. In addition to this, the City of Tacoma agreed to pay for a 5-story parking garage on the land; this facility with a capacity of 300 cars, would serve as the lower floors of a six-story apartment building. The first floor above the garage would be occupied by a grocery store, and the remaining 5 floors would have living units. In late 09/2010, concerns were raised about the preservation of a monkey puzzle tree growing next to the Tacoma Elks Building, with some advocating its removal saying that it was a hazard. The exotic species, Araucaria araucana, originated in Chile, and became popular for Northwesterners to cultivate in the 1920s-1930s.

McMenamins eventually succeeded in clearing development hurdles by the mid-2010s. The Portland-based Andersen Construction Company won the commission for the renovation, working with another Portland firm, Ankrom Moisan Architects. The Ankrom-Moisan-Andersen team started the renovation process in 2017 and completed the work before the McMenamins Elks Temple reopening on 04/24/2019.

The Andersen Construction Company.com web site said of the project: "This once-loved but since long-abandoned celebrated its grand reopening on April 24, 2019, after Andersen completely overhauled the facility—exterior and interior, top to bottom. The 7-story renovation features multiple restaurant & bar spaces, 45 hotel rooms, event spaces, game rooms, a fully operational brewery & commercial kitchen, and a theater for musicians & shows. Exterior work involved repairs to the existing structure, undoing modifications from previous remodels, and restoring architectural elements that had deteriorated or had been removed. The building also received an extensive seismic upgrade." (See Andersen Construction Company.com, "McMenamins Elks Temple," accessed 04/26/2021.)

National Register of Historic Places (Listed 1977-12-23): 77001352 NRHP Images (pdf) NHRP Registration Form (pdf)

PCAD id: 14211