Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1922 Thomas G. Moses was painting scenery for the Tacoma Scottish Rite. During this time, he wrote, “I had a lot of extras on the job as well in the town. I did a complete set for the Elks club, and some window displays.” Everything was painted at the Tacoma Theatre.
By 1922, the Tacoma Elks Temple was six years old; time for some additional stage settings, as was common for many theaters. The building opened Feb. 19, 1916, to great fanfare and a very large membership (The Tacoma Times, page 1).
The Elks Temple was designed by Ecole des Beaux Arts graduate, É. Frère Champney, known for his world fair building designs at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo (1901), St. Louis Exposition (1904) and Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland (1905). Before moving to Seattle in 1907, he was well-known for his work and connected to a firm in Buffalo, New York. Much has been written about the well-known architect and the Tacoma Elks, but very little has been written about the theater. To date, I have located no images of the 1916 stage, original stock scenery collection or 1922 scenery painted by Moses. Other than Moses’ own record, I have nothing to add about the technical theatre elements. I am continually surprised that after incredible effort and expense to construct these massive edifices so much was left undocumented. This is common for many theaters in the 1920s. Unlike their predecessors, many 1920s newspaper accounts fail to include extensive building descriptions that focus on theaters and stage details, as well as the contributing artisans.
The Tacoma Elks Temple, like many fraternal buildings, had healthy membership levels in the early twentieth century. Unfortunately, the peak membership numbers that so many groups experienced in the 1920s continued to decline throughout the remainder of the century. At one time Tacoma boasted the largest Elk membership in the country. Over time, however, the organization could not overcome a series of obstacles and eventually vacated the building.
The Elks Temple made the news again in 2019 when the dilapidated building was purchased by Brian McMenamins, owner of McMenamins restaurant and hotel chain. By November 2019, the renovated entertainment complex and hotel was featured on several local television stations, recounting the renovation story. McMenamins invested approximately $30 million dollars to transform the structure into the McMenamin Elks Temple hotel, restaurant and event space.
I have to wonder when the scenery painted by Moses was tossed out; if it was decades ago, or during the renovation. Although much has been written about McMenamins and the history of the Tacoma Elks, the history of the stage is nonexistent.
To be continued…
