San Pedro Elks Lodge Reopens
More than six years after an arsonist burned the San Pedro Elks Lodge #966 almost to the ground, the local fraternal organization had a soft reopening. The Aug. 14 reopening included a ribbon-cutting ceremony and outdoor dining. Members and guests wore face masks and maintained 6-foot social distancing.
The rebuild was completed in early May, but Elks Lodge Secretary Patti Folsom-Medina said city regulations and inspections slowed the process. The project seemed to be moving toward final inspections in the first week of June, but they were canceled, in the words of the Elks’ Facebook page, “because of the stupid looters,” referring to uprisings that took place after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police officer.
Exalted Ruler Jose Chavez said COVID-19 also delayed inspections. This also led to a scale down in the celebration.
“Seriously you fricken idiot protesters, looters,” said Exalted Ruler Jose Chavez on his Facebook account on June 1. “Just another fricken hurdle in trying to get the lodge reopened.”
The San Pedro Elks Lodge was built in 1967 for $648,000 on an 11-acre hilltop. The fraternal organization is a charity, not a country club, Folsom-Medina said. But she declined to comment about the Elks Lodge’s work.
The cost to rebuild the event space was reportedly close to $11 million.
It was set ablaze on April 15, 2014. It took a total of 104 firefighters to extinguish it. No one was injured.
Los Angeles Fire Department investigators said the fire was set intentionally. Former lodge member Nick Pecarich was charged with arson, but the charges were later dropped when he was deemed to be unfit to stand trial.
Rebuilding of the lodge began in 2015.
“One of the things we realized is that the Elks Lodge is not the building, it’s the people,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn at the groundbreaking. “It’s every single one of you who holds the value of the Elks and the community in your heart and it’s very heartwarming today to see people walking here.”