Years before the historic Billy Webb Elks Lodge in North Portland was damaged by a fire on Sept. 11, 2021, the century-old cornerstone of the Eliot neighborhood’s Black community was endangered. Membership in the fraternal organization for men and women had dwindled and the porous structure, originally a YWCA for people of color during segregated times, was either too hot or too cold inside, making it difficult to rent for much needed income.
Since the fire, progress to restore the 1926 building and install energy efficient insulation and heating and cooling systems has been slow but consistent, said Louis McLemore, who has served as the Lodge Exalted Ruler for a decade.
The entire roof has been replaced and exposed trusses, new and original, in the ballroom look as they did when the YWCA used the space as a basketball court.
The first phase of the expensive restoration is almost complete, but members continue to raise funds to make the community center sustainable, in good times and bad. The group has not been able to rent out the space since the 2021 fire started on a wooden deck by a trespasser and before that, there were no events during most of 2020, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, when gatherings were discouraged to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The second fundraising phase will focus on finishing the interior. The group needs volunteers who can professionally refinish the original Douglas fir and oak floors, redo faux painted walls and repair a vintage jukebox filled with pre-1980s jazz CDs.
In June, students from the Clatsop Community College Historic Preservation Program installed two new windows they made to look like the original ones, and seal gaps around two large arched windows on the top level.
Membership dues would also help the lodge maintain the building on the corner of North Tillamook Street and Williams Avenue. People can be nonvoting members who live out of the area. “Our mission is charity, justice and love,” said Deborah Roache, who serves as the lodge’s Daughter Ruler.
Roache said funds and donated expert advice to create a commercial kitchen could allow the group to serve community dinners, especially to people who are alone on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and event organizers could bring in a catering crew when they rent the space.
The finished basem*nt is used for storage, but it could become another income-producing rental space, Roache said.
Funds are also needed to replace walls, flooring and mirrors in a women’s bathroom and changing room. The space, used by nursing parents and people dressing for fundraising fashion shows, was partially demolished after the building was affected by the fire’s smoke and firehoses.
Donations and annual membership dues, from $75 to $125, can be mailed to the Billy Webb Elks Lodge, P.O. Box 12026, Portland, Oregon 97212. Information is posted on the Billy Webb Elks Lodge Facebook page and a GoFundMe site.
The Improved Benevolent and Protective Order Elks and Restore Oregon, a statewide nonprofit that specializes in preserving historic community buildings, have worked to advise the careful repair of the lodge. Andersen Construction is restoring the ballroom.
The first phase of the restoration was funded with $200,000 from Meyer Memorial Trust Justice Oregon for Black Lives, a $140,000 award from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and more than $30,000 in community donations, said Restore Oregon’s Executive Director Nicole Possert.
The 1926 building, which is in the National Register of Historic Places, has always been a meeting place for many members of Portland’s Black community. The YWCA sold the property in 1959 to the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, which was founded at a time when white organizations excluded people of color from many fraternal organizations.
Welcomed into the building were also African American United Service Organization members during WWII, the Portland NAACP, the Urban League of Portland and the Congress of Racial Equality. The building was also a refuge for survivors of the 1948 Vanport flood.
During the pandemic, the Maurice Lucas Foundation, a Portland nonprofit for youth, set up computers and workstations in the ballroom for students.
After famous jazz acts including Mel Brown, Shirley Nanette and the lodge’s namesake, Billy Webb, performed in downtown Portland, and “they weren’t allowed to stay around longer, they came here,” said Roache. “There is some serious history here. It’s like our second home.”
Gary Suttenberg joined the Billy Webb Elks Lodge in 2008, attracted to the community events and vintage jazz music playing from the Rowe compact disc jukebox, which is in need of repair. “I love this place,” said Suttenberg.
The 98-year-old building is where people came to tell their stories, heard by their grandfather, dad, mom, aunts and uncles who all came here, said McLemore. “This building is tied into the community and we hope to do a fundraiser with bricks for a walkway for people to put their family name on,” he said. “We have many plans. We just need money.”
— Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072
jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman
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