BUTTE — There’s an old elk hanging out at 240 Elk’s Lodge in Butte for 100 years, but now members want to give the century-old building a new look.

“We want this building to be here for another 100 years, so you can be assured that the Elks and the Elks building will be here for many more years to come,” Elk Lodge President Bert Abbott said.

The building’s owner invested more than half a million dollars to renovate the first floor of the three-story building. Most importantly, large windows were added at street level and the interior was expanded for more space. The building may be used for future events in the city.

“Let’s say you have five, six, seven hundred people, you need more than one building to handle that. The Elks can handle 1,000 people on all three floors of this building,” said Abbott.

The Elks have been operating in Butte since the late 19th century and were once a very popular club in the Mining City.

“In the old days this lodge had over 3,000 members,” said Abbott.

The club has approximately 144 active members today and they hope to increase the number of members with the renovated building.

“Meeting all kinds of new people and taking dance lessons, yes, we could say that’s the center of my social life,” Elk member Chuck Schaffer said.

The public can view the changes at an open house on Saturday, November 16, starting at 3 p.m.