Batavia Elks Lodge listed for sale

For Sale: Older building with plenty of space, grand old wooden bar, working dumbwaiters, hardwood floors and plenty of local history. It once housed one of Batavia's great civic clubs.

The Batavia Elks Lodge building, at 213 E. Main St., home until recently of Lodge #950, is for sale, listed at $249,900.

The property is assessed for $179,000.

The reason its for sale? It's still unclear.

As The Batavian first reported Feb. 13, the Grand Lodge revoked the local charter for apparently administrative reasons. Lodge leader Timothy Garlock was hopeful the charter could be re-established, but the building being up for sale may not be a hopeful sign.

Neither Garlock nor the trustee we previously spoke with, Kenneth Perry, could be reached for comment this evening.

An Elk in the San Francisco area who has been following an increasing number of Elks Lodge closings on his blog said the posted sale doesn't necessarily mean the end of the local lodge.

However, if the sale is made, the proceeds will be placed in a sort of internal escrow account by the New York State leadership and held for 10 years, giving the local lodge a chance to reconstitute itself. If the money isn't returned to the local lodge after 10 years, it is either donated to a charity or used to start a new lodge elsewhere in the state.

The Grand Lodge doesn't appear to benefit financially from shutting down lodges, which it seems to have done frequently of late, according to Bob Merjano. He's a past president of Lodge #3 (the third lodge started in the nation, in San Francisco, 135 years ago).

Some lodges close for financial reasons, Merjano said, but "some of them are being forced to close even though they seem sound financially, like yours."

The frustrating thing Merjano said, is that the Grand Lodge never comments on closings. They never point out that there are still more than one million Elks and the organization still does a lot of good work for veterans and children.

As for Lodge #3, Merjano said his lodge is doing especially well.  They've been fortunate, he said, to recruit a lot of new, younger members.