The storied Gilroy Elks Lodge located at 2765 Hecker Pass Highway in Gilroy has undergone an architectural overhaul, its first since the mid-1980s.
Thanks to $214,000 worth of work – which has been going on for almost a year now and was funded by a construction loan from Pinnacle Bank in Morgan Hill – the lodge now boasts an enormous tiled patio featuring a wedding pergola with unobstructed views into the valley below. The banquet hall has also been revamped with the addition of a dance floor and a thorough makeover for the bar. Along with this, the entrance lobby has been redecorated and state-of-the-art features have rejuvenated the bathrooms.
Lodge members initially brought up the idea for renovations about five years ago, but the funding just wasn’t there at the time, admitted past-Exalted Ruler Wayne Weller.
However, the makeover is now almost complete, save for a rail that remains to be installed on top of the patio retaining wall. The nonprofit organization hopes that revamping their space will put the lodge on the map as a premiere venue for weddings and other events.
“We’re right in there with the best of them. There isn’t a winery or anybody around that we’re afraid to compete with,” proclaimed Elks Lodge member Dave Hartwig, referring to the Gilroy Lodge on the Hill event venue and catering service that operates out of the Gilroy Elks Lodge.
The crowing glory of the renovation project is the tiled patio located on the south side of the lodge building, designed and created by Greg Bozzo, and Joe Carrera of Landscape Innovation in Gilroy. Greg’s brother, Dave, runs the catering and food service at the lodge.
Elk member Darryl Manson, who pushed hard for the patio development, says the area used to look like “an old lawn with gopher condominiums.”
Now, the patio is tiled, bordered by manicured flowerbeds and has a wedding pergola sat atop the rolling drop to the golf course below. Lodge members hope the patio will attract couples looking to tie the knot, while at the same time bringing in new blood intrigued by lodge goings-on.
At present, the lodge has 466 members and their ages are steadily climbing, explained Weller. In 2012, six lodge members passed away from old age, their names then etched onto individual plaques and placed on the wall. Some lines of plaques stretch farther than others.
“2008 was not a good year, nor was 2000,” Weller noted somberly.
Current Exalted Ruler Phil Quast aims to revitalize membership numbers by attracting younger locals, while at the same time reaching out to current members who may have forgotten why they became involved in the first place.
“We’re trying to put events on for you. Try and come up once a month to say hello. Come and have dinner with us,” he asked of members who have lapsed to the point of coming up to the lodge once a year.
Of the recent renovations, Weller is thankful for all of the hard work that countless people put into the project – much of it for free.
“We got a bunch of volunteers up here, and we started taking it down,” he said, referring to the prep work that was undertaken by lodge members.
Renovating the venue wasn’t as simple as raising the money for construction, on that note. It’s quite the process.
The Elks Grand Lodge in Chicago has be fully informed of building plans at any lodge and must sign off on work that exceeds $25,000. Putting the numbers together was no mean feat, even for self-described “number cruncher” Weller. He describes the assistance of Vice President Cliff Dennett of Pinnacle Bank in Morgan Hill as “a godsend.”
There was also a timeline: the work that began April 19, 2012 had to be wrapped up by April 27, 2013 because of stipulations imposed per Grand Lodge regulations.
After financial hurdles were overcome, the construction nous of local general contractor, and Elks Lodge member John Giancola was tapped into. Giancola helped devise a plan of operations and then oversaw the project.
Gone are the Tiki gods from above the bar, and artwork that may have (no one in the lodge is quite sure what they were) depicted the signs of the zodiac.
“Back in the ’60s and ’70s, they were probably in vogue,” laughed Weller.
Following the removal of dated fixtures and fittings, Faria Drywall Inc. of Gilroy revitalized the dining area by covering over the exposed cinder block walls, forever consigning the room’s nickname of “the boys old gym” to the scrap heap.
Guided by colorists and assisted by a generous deal from Kelly-Moore Paint of Gilroy, Starkweather Painting of Hollister transformed the space into a light, airy, multipurpose room.
A granite top has been fitted to the bar, and granite trough sinks have been installed in both the mens’ and womens’ bathrooms, all from South Bay Tile and Stone. Dark velvet wallpaper was peeled from the wall in the womens’ bathroom, and a new makeup counter and full-length mirror were also added.
“It was a pretty dark dungeon in here,” laughed Hartwig.
