Staying with the story
The Springfield News-Sun digs into stories about downtown developments and has reported on the Eagles’ interest in moving since the first story broke in the summer of 2013.
By the numbers
$645,000: Cost for the Eagles Lodge to purchase the Moose property, 1802 Selma Road.
$1.5 million: Sale price for United Senior Services to purchase the Eagles property, 125 W. Main Street.
2,100: Approximate number of Eagles members in Springfield.
The local Eagles Lodge will move from its downtown location to the Moose Lodge facility, located at 1802 Selma Pike, after purchasing the property for $645,000.
Members and auxiliary members of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Champion Aerie 397 voted in September to determine the club’s future location and chose the Moose site. The sale was included in Clark County’s property transfer listings this week.
The Eagles Lodge currently has about 2,100 members and employs 20 people.
“We’re looking forward to moving to that location and starting over, putting the past behind us and doing the right thing,” Trustee Doug Burns said Tuesday.
The facility on Selma Road is approximately 20,000 square feet, according to records from the Clark County Auditor’s Office. The building is suited to the club’s needs and includes kitchen facilities, Burns said.
The Moose Lodge, which currently has about 800 members, is planning to lease space at 2118 N. Limestone St., which was previously occupied by both Spirits Pub and Grill and Club North, according to Moose Governor Greg Adkins. The club is expected to move out of its previous location by Nov. 22, Adkins said.
The current Moose facility was constructed in 1991, when the club had more than 4,000 members.
“It’s going be a smaller building for us, less overhead,” Adkins said. “Our membership is pretty excited about it.”
The Eagles were expected to spend $192,000 to purchase the 6.6-acre former Springfield Waterworks site, 715 N. Bechtle Ave., from the city of Springfield. But a recent architect’s proposal showed it could cost about $1.2 million to construct a new building there, according to a letter obtained by the Springfield News-Sun.
The Eagles’ current location, 125 W. Main St., was recently sold to United Senior Services for about $1.5 million. It was built in 1973, according to the auditor’s office. The senior services agency isn’t expected to move there until 2016.
The club would have needed to borrow approximately $400,000 to complete the abandoned pool property project, and trustees said they didn’t want to incur debt again, according to the letter.
A chunk of the sale money was used by the Eagles to pay off debt, leaving a little more than $1 million.
The Eagles’ management team, which includes Burns and fellow trustees Ervin Collinsworth, Jerry Pillion and Richard Steinmetz and secretary Wayne Turner, is excited about the club’s future at the new location, Burns said. The club is leasing its current property from USS short-term, but is hoping to move into the Moose facility before that lease runs out next March.
“We feel that with our experience and ability to work as a team, we can make this happen and do a good job for our members,” Burns said.
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