Elks Building

Built in 1920and occupied by the Centralia Elks beginning in 1920, the building now known as Centralia Square began its life as the permanent home of Centralia Lodge No. 1083 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Its construction marked an important moment in the city's civic development. By the early 1920s, Centralia was no longer simply a town shaped by timber, rail, and downtown trade; it was becoming a community with institutions, traditions, and gathering places built to last.

The building was designed by Joseph H. Wohleb, a prominent Olympia architect whose work helped shape civic and institutional architecture across southwest Washington. Its Mission Revival character gave the structure a distinctive presence, with decorative concrete elements, red tile roofing, recessed panels, sunburst motifs, and a broad portico that established the building as both formal and inviting.

Within its walls, the Elks gathered for meetings, ceremonies, dinners, dances, and community events. Buildings like this played a vital role in early 20th-century cities: they were not simply clubhouses, but social anchors. They offered a place where business owners, professionals, families, and civic leaders could gather outside the formal spaces of government or commerce. The building's generous public spaces reflected that ambition. It was built not just to house an organization, but to express confidence in Centralia's future.

After the Elks era ended, the building entered a new chapter. It was sold in 1986 and redeveloped as part of the Centralia Square Antique Mall complex, eventually becoming associated with lodging, events, retail, and historic hospitality. Its later use as Centralia Square Grand Ballroom & Hotel continues the pattern of reinvention that has long kept downtown buildings alive.

Today, the former Elks Building stands as one of Centralia's clearest examples of adaptive reuse. Its story moves from fraternal hall to antique mall to restored event venue, but the core purpose has remained remarkably consistent: people gathering in a beautiful space to mark important moments. More than a century after it opened, the building still fulfills the promise of its original design. It remains a place of arrival, celebration, memory, and civic pride.