BOONE — The Boone Elks Committee recently bought the downtown building formerly housing the Boone News Republican and hopes soon to use the site for a newly reconstituted Elks Lodge.
Originally built in 1912, the building at 812 Keller St. has been empty since the newspaper vacated in 2004.
“It was used as storage for a while and has sat vacant ever since,” said Dolan Olson of Boone, chair of the committee seeking to reinstitute the Boone lodge.
Olson said the property “was and is quite an ornate building and was very stylish in its day. The Elks Committee took a leap of faith on the if-you-build-it-they-will-come approach, but the numbers are looking very good.”
The Boone Elks Lodge closed almost a decade ago, but Olson and others are working to revive local interest in a reorganized lodge. A meeting to discuss reopening a lodge is set for Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. at the Boone History Center, 602 Story St. in downtown Boone.
Olson said anyone from Boone or the northern Dallas County area is welcome to attend.
“After very extensive remodeling, this will house one of the nicest lodges in the state,” he said. “Also in the works are various grants and an application to be placed on the Registry of Historic Buildings, with the very welcome assistance of the Boone County Historical Society and the Boone Chamber of Commerce.”
A target date for reinstitution of the new Lodge is set for April 27. Olson said the original Boone Elks Lodge was founded March 16, 1900.
“The only old thing about the new lodge will be our number: 563,” he said.
In March the Elks Drug Awareness program, in coordination with the Sioux City Elks Lodge, will host a lecture by Ray Lozano, one of the nation’s top drug awareness speakers for teens and young adults.
Lozano is slated to speak in Boone March 28 and in Perry March 29, but the details are still to be finalized, Olson said.
