As one of Oregon’s Most Endangered Places, Restore Oregon staff has worked closely with the volunteer leadership of the Billy Webb Elks Lodge (BWEL) to raise close to $200,000 in grant funding and donations since the devastating fire occurred last September.
An award of $140,000 from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, was granted to Billy Webb Elks Lodge #1050 in mid-July. The Action Fund is the largest U.S. resource dedicated to the preservation of African American historic places, with more than $80 million in funding.
BWEL is Oregon’s third-only recipient of this nationally competitive grant program, a befitting honor for the fifth individually recognized site of African American historical importance in our state. In this 2022 round of support, BWEL is one of only 33 organizations nationwide to receive a total of $3 million in grant funding. This grant will allow BWEL to hire its first staff member, a part-time executive director/operations manager for two consecutive years. By hiring its first staff member to manage their historic preservation and business needs, the organization will be in a better position to steward this important place in the long-term.
In its 96-year history, the Billy Webb Elks Lodge has served the traditionally African American neighborhood of Albina as a Black YWCA, a USO center for black servicemen, and as a Black Elks Lodge since 1959 at a time when the Elks organization did not allow black members. Billy Webb Elks Lodge’s goal is to continue to provide a space where the community can express black culture and benefit from investment through jobs, education, and business opportunities, and access other resources like food, clothing, and shelter.
The success of this grant was made possible by tremendous support from the community, including Representative Earl Blumenauer, Portland Commissioner Mingus Mapps, and many other organizations including Restore Oregon who recognize the cultural significance of this irreplaceable African American resource. Restore Oregon has been providing historic preservation technical assistance and support since 2020 when the lodge was named one of Oregon’s Most Endangered Places.
Also in July, BWEL received a $20,000 Preserving Oregon grant awarded by Oregon Heritage, a division of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, to fund the restoration and repair of at least four of the lodge’s historic windows. Oregon Heritage offers this 50:50 matching grant for rehabilitation work that supports the preservation of historic resources listed in the National Register of Historic Places or for significant work contributing toward identifying, preserving and/or interpreting archaeological sites.
Restore Oregon established a GoFundMe page for the Billy Webb Elks Lodge last September that has raised nearly $29,000 so far toward restoring the building's destroyed interior. The fundraiser is still active and accepting donations to assist with securing the building post-fire, making up for lost revenue, operating expenses while the lodge remains unusable, consultations with historic preservation experts, and costs that may not be covered by insurance. Re-construction of the fire-damaged section of the lodge is expected to begin this Fall.