PORT ANGELES — Just in time for the holidays, the downtown Elks Naval Lodge finally has the green light to open its venue to parties again.
The city of Port Angeles issued the lodge an occupancy permit on Tuesday, which allows the Elks to move back into the five-story building and host regular events.
The permit comes almost a year after the downtown’s tallest building was heavily damaged in an early morning fire that broke out in a ground-floor photography shop.
“It is a big milestone,” Elks project manager Ron Johnson said.
“We’ve been anxious to get things wrapped up and get back in there.”
The lodge was knocked out of commission Dec. 9 when the fire, likely caused by faulty electrical equipment, broke out in Camera Corner, destroying the store and an adjacent Internet cafe, and causing heavy damage to parts of the 1920s-era building at First and Lincoln streets.
Reconstruction work started on the lodge last spring while the Elks met in an undamaged storefront space on the Lincoln Street side of the building.
