The Elks Lodge in La Grande stands forlorn after a fire in the summer of 1970. Some of us have been around long enough to remember when the Lodge caught caught fire early in the morning of Aug. 10, says local historical Robert Bull. The entire third floor was burned and the back half of the second floor. Almost all of the interior suffered either water or smoke damage. Some temporary repairs were made and it sat for a few months while plans were gone over on how to renovate the building. "Well, before that happened the top part of the east wall collapsed crushing several cars that were parked along the street," Bull said. In the latter part of 1971, the building was not just repaired but given a complete new look. Now, in 2024, the building's facade is being restored to recapture its historic glory. Bull obtained this photo from scans made by Dave Yerges and J.B. Bane of the Hermens/Turner and Jack Evans Collections.