City Orders Demolition of Damaged Elks Lodge
By Helenah Swedberg | Online Only | Dec. 16, 2008
This 19th-century Elks Lodge in downtown Madison, Indiana, will be demolished if no one steps forward to save the brick shell.
Credit: Historic Landmarks of Indiana
A National Historic Landmark District in Madison, Ind., risks losing one of its most distinguished buildings next month.
The Madison Elks Lodge, gutted by fire more than two years ago, was severely damaged again in September, when Hurricane Ike swept through the Ohio River Valley, damaging Madison's historic downtown. Now, all hope to restore the brick structure depends on whether an intrepid developer steps forward.
The 19th-century neoclassical building has been a hollow shell since an arsonist's fire devoured the building in 2006. Since then, the owners and preservation groups have been seeking a developer to restore the building. Hurricane Ike may have delivered a final blow, knocking down the Elks Lodge's framing and causing bricks to fall. In November, the city ordered that demolition of the lodge must begin within 30 days and be completed within six months.
"It is not too late, although it requires quick action," said Richard Murray, president of the Cornerstone Society in Madison, a town of 12,000 on the Ohio River. "This is the only hope we have left."
The loss of the Elks Lodge "would put a gaping hole in the historic Madison landscape," says Gregory Sekula, southern regional director of the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. "This is one of the most prominent buildings in the downtown section." Sekula adds that the local Elks chapter, which still owns the lodge, have considered selling the shell to an interested developer for $1.
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Comments
Submitted by Anonymous at: December 18, 2008
All because of an arsonist. What a shame.