Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge Number 878 (also known as the Queensboro Elks Lodge or Elks Lodge 878) is a historic Elks lodge on Queens Boulevard in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The -story Italian Renaissance-style main building and two-story annex were both built in 1923–1924 and designed by the Ballinger Company. A three-story rear addition was added in 1930.
The building is made of granite, limestone, and brick. It features a granite-block terrace with granite balustrade, limestone arched entrance, and an elaborate cornice made of architectural terracotta. Lodge 878 was once was the largest such lodge in the Eastern United States, with 28 inn rooms, bowling alleys, game rooms, ladies' and gentlemen's lounges, and a bar. A statue of an elk is outside the Queens Boulevard entrance.
From its completion in 1924 until the late 20th century, Lodge 878 was extremely influential in Queens politics, with up to 6,600 members in the 1960s. The members were mostly white and male. In the late 20th century, Lodge 878 saw declining membership amid Queens' changing demographics, and the building was rented out for other events. The Elks sold its main building to New Life Fellowship Church in 2001, but it continues to meet in the annex as the Brooklyn Queensborough Elks Lodge. The building is a New York City Designated Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Description The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks' Lodge 878 building was designed by the Ballinger Company in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. It is composed of the -story main building at 82-10 Queens Boulevard; a two-story annex to the east at 82-20 Queens Boulevard; and a three-story rear addition to the south of the main building. Elks Lodge 878 occupies a land lot on the south side of Queens Boulevard, between Simonson and Goldsmith Streets. The main building is on the western side of the block, nearer Simonson Street. The lodge's annex is on the east side of the block toward Goldsmith Street, while the rear addition faces south in the direction of Grand Avenue. The lodge and annex each occupy one land lot, but they only take up half of their respective lots, with the remainder being used as parking areas. An electronic sign is at the western end of the block, at the corner of Queens Boulevard and Simonson Street.
At the time of Lodge 878's construction, the architecture of fraternal organizations' buildings varied drastically. Many lodges built at the time were designed as freestanding structures that acted as monuments, and Elks Lodge 878 was one such example, being highly visible from Queens Boulevard. The main building's facade contained many Italian Renaissance details, including a rusticated limestone facade on its first floor; balustrades; entablatures; and decorative elements such as cornices. Lodge 878 had amenities such as a swimming pool, banquet hall, gym, bowling alley, lodge room, and residential suites for members; it once had a barber shop and restaurant as well. Decorations related to the Elks are prevalent inside, including elk reliefs on the building's doorknobs.
Main building
The main building is three and a half stories, with a raised basement. It has a U-shaped floor plan. The structure measures , with the longer side facing Simonson Street.
Facade The facade consists of granite at its base, rusticated limestone on the first floor, and brick with limestone ornament on the upper floors. The main elevation on Queens Boulevard, facing north, consists of five bays, while the elevations to the west and east contain seven bays. Outside the main building's northern elevation is a set of stairs leading to broad terrace with a balustrade. A bronze elk statue is on a pedestal in the middle of the staircase. According to one legend about the building, Elks Lodge 878 members would squeeze the elk's testicles for good luck before they entered.
On the first story, in the center bay of the northern elevation, is the main entrance arch, which contains a double door and a semicircular window, and is topped by an elaborate keystone. The arch is flanked by a pair of Doric-style engaged columns, which support a frieze with the text . The northern elevation's first floor also contains four segmental-arched openings, two on each side of the main entrance arch, each of which contains a double door and a keystone depicting a lion's head. The side elevations, including the four-bay-wide rear addition, contain casement windows with lion's-head keystones. An entablature and small cornice runs above the first story.
The second and third stories and the attic are clad with buff brick and contain casement windows. On the original building, but not its rear addition, the second-floor windows are set beneath curved architraves, with balustrades at the bottom of each opening. Similarly, the original building's third-floor window openings are topped by scrolled keystones and set beneath carved limestone panels. The rear addition contains a simple brick facade on the upper stories with rectangular windows. A small cornice separates the third floor from the attic, which contains wide carved limestone panels flanking each of the narrow windows. A larger, more extensively decorated terracotta cornice runs above the attic. The eastern elevation has a fire escape.
The rear addition's southern elevation is an undecorated brick facade with segmental-arched first floor window and rectangular second- and third-floor windows, as well as a handicap-accessible entrance. The main building's southern elevation is mostly blocked by the rear addition, but the upper stories of the southern elevation are similar to those on the other three elevations. A flagpole and brick elevator room are atop the roof, while a brick chimney stack is at the southeast corner of the rear addition.
Features The basement had a grill room with a bar and a six-lane bowling alley. Also in the basement were lockers, restrooms, and a barber shop. The bowling alley was subsequently converted to a multipurpose room, while the rest of the basement was reconfigured with classrooms. It has a terrazzo floor, wooden wainscoting, wooden ceiling beams, and wood-sash casement windows with red stained glass. The basement is accessed by a stair from the first floor with wooden wainscoted walls and brass railings.
The first floor has a vestibule inside the main entrance, which contains limestone walls with wood trim. The vestibule leads to a first-floor lobby measuring . It has plaster ceilings, wood-trimmed limestone walls, and terrazzo floors. There are two rooms, one to each side, which served as the men's and women's lounges; they have bronze chandeliers, parquet wooden floors, and decorative fireplace mantels. Other rooms extend from the lobby; on the east, there are stairs leading up and down, as well as an elevator bank. In the back (south) was a dining room measuring , a ticket office, a coat room, restrooms, and a kitchen. The dining room still exists and has checkerboard terrazzo floors, square piers, and bas reliefs. The interior of the rear addition has a health center. The first floor was available for non-members to use as well.
The second and third floors contained offices and game rooms. The common area of the second floor has wood-trimmed plaster walls, parquet wooden floors, and wooden ceiling beams. The southern section has the former lodge room (doubling as an auditorium and used as a church room), while the northern section has offices. The lodge room has capacity for up to 700 people. It is themed to Mayan or Aztec culture, with stained glass panels symbolizing charity, justice, brotherly love, and fidelity, the cardinal virtues of the Elks. Inside the lodge room is a 3-rank, 9-manual Wurlitzer organ manufactured in 1924. The third floor is furnished similarly to the second floor, and has balconies overlooking the lodge room, with stationary wooden seats. In the rear addition, there are classrooms and offices.
The attic contained 28 suites for members to rent. These were arranged as six double-bedroom suites and 22 single-bedroom suites, with connecting bathrooms between pairs of suites. The suites were available to members for a monthly fee; The New York Times reported in 1995 that this fee was $220. The suites were on the east and west sides of the main building, and lined a T-shaped corridor.
Annex The annex is clad with stucco and contains recessed arches with small rectangular windows inside each arch. The main entrance is on Goldsmith Street along the eastern elevation and contains three pairs of doors. A one-story western extension contains a side entrance to Queens Boulevard. A modillioned metal cornice runs atop the annex.
The annex originally contained the swimming pool on the first floor and a gym in the mezzanine, though the pool is no longer extant. The first floor was converted into a multipurpose room that could be used as a bar, dining room, or handball court. The mezzanine floor is smaller than the first floor and has a conference room and an office. The interior has wooden floors and sheet-rock partitions.
History
Planning and construction During the late 1890s, the former town of Newtown was renamed Elmhurst and became part of the City of Greater New York. Elmhurst subsequently became developed as a commercial and residential neighborhood, with the arrival of the New York City Subway and Long Island Rail Road, as well as the construction of Queens Boulevard in the early 20th century, connecting Elmhurst to the Queensboro Bridge to Manhattan. Prior to development, the plot that would later become Lodge 878 was undeveloped, and a stream called Horse Brook ran through the southern side of the lot, though this stream had ceased to run above ground by 1902. To accommodate the width of Queens Boulevard, buildings along the route were demolished, and the future Lodge 878 lot was decreased in size in 1910.
The Elks, meanwhile, had been founded in 1868 as an all-white, all-male fraternal organization, growing rapidly in subsequent years. Lodge 878 was founded in 1903, and for its first 21 years, met at the Lodge 828 building at 21-42 44th Drive in Long Island City. A 1906 Elks bylaw subsequently limited the number of Elks chapters to one in each municipality, making Lodge 878 the only Elks chapter in Queens. Lodge 878 bought the plot at the southeast corner of Queens Boulevard and Simonson Street in 1921. The Elmhurst location was chosen after extensive discussion. Elks from Jamaica, Richmond Hill, and Woodhaven favored a location in Forest Hills, while Elks from Long Island City and Long Island's North Shore advocated for the Elmhurst location.
The cornerstone of the Lodge 878 building was laid on October 6, 1923. To celebrate the groundbreaking and Lodge 878's twentieth anniversary, a parade of almost 300 automobiles carrying 1,500 people drove down Queens Boulevard from Long Island City to the Lodge 878 site. The Ballinger Company had designed plans for the main building and annex's construction, while the McIntee Construction Company was contracted to erect the building. The Elks held a fundraiser for the building's furnishings in late 1924. The lodge was opened on October 26, 1924, and the Elks' grand exalted ruler John G. Price traveled to Queens in December 1924 to dedicate the new building. It had ultimately cost $750,000 (equivalent to $ million in ). Upon completion, it ranked as the Eastern United States' largest Elks Lodge.
Elks use