Lakewood Ranch Elks break ground on new lodge

When the Lakewood Ranch-Sarasota Elks got together in the summer of 2014 to form the New Facility Committee, one thought prevailed about the possibility of building a beautiful, new lodge in the Lakewood Ranch area.

"It was a pipe dream," said Darrin Simone, a member of the committee since the first day and the current exalted ruler of Lodge 2855.

Fellow committee member Randy Volkart laughs when he thinks back to that time.

"We didn't have any money," he said.

On Nov. 29, Simone and Volkart were among the Elks who broke ground on a new $2 million lodge on Lena Road. 

The new lodge will be slightly north of the Elks' temporary home at 4908 Lena Road, where they have been for the past seven years after moving from their Sarasota Lodge on Lockwood Ridge Road.

The 6,800-square foot building will include a banquet hall, bar and meeting room. It also will have a full kitchen, something missing in the current facility the Elks lease.

Capacity of the current lodge is only 150 while the Lakewood Ranch-Sarasota Elks Lodge has 630 members and is one of the fastest growing lodges in the state.

"It's going to be great to have our own home," Simone said. "It will lead to even more membership growth. This building is our future."

It was a big day for committee members who didn't think it was possible three years ago.

"We owned the (Lockwood Ridge) building but we were leasing it," Volkart said. "Then the lease fell through, so we put the property back on the market."

While that was happening, the lodge members were raising money toward a new facility and committee members checked out land possibilities around the area. Eventually, the property at the end of Lena Road (as it heads north from State Road 70) became available.

The Elks bought six acres for $295,000 with four of the acres wetland area that couldn't be developed. Although they didn't know at the time they were going to sell the Lockwood Ridge property, both transactions took place about the same time and closed in August of 2015. The Elks received $900,000 for their Lockwood Ridge property.

Everything started to come together quickly, although the Elks were about to get a few surprises.

"I remember thinking a new building would cost us $1.2 million," Volkart said. "People thought that was high."

It was low.

"We found out other things we needed that were going to cost us, like state and county permits, engineering work at the site, and we needed a lot of fill," said committee member Joe Jennings.

Simone said about $400,000 in site work was needed.

Even so, the Elks moved forward, obtaining a loan for construction. "Our mortgage will be close to our rent," Simone said. "This was a no-brainer."

Simone said the future extension of Lena Road could also signal a bright future. However, that project isn't in Manatee County's immediate plans. 

"It's no secret I've been trying to get the county to look at connecting Lena Road from State Road 70 all the way through to State Road 64," County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said. "It's about a mile, or a mile and a half. It will really help the businesses."

Baugh attended the groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 29. "The first thing (a new Elks Lodge) says is the word 'community,'" Baugh said. "We have a very active community where people want to get together and enjoy each other. That's a wonderful feeling."

Architect John Ziemnicki of Lakewood Ranch's World Design Inc., has been selected to design the new building.

The new lodge should be opened in the summer of 2017.