About 15 years ago, the Milwaukie Elks Lodge was struggling to hang on.
Membership had dwindled to about 500 people, down from roughly 5,000 during its peak in the 1980s. The sprawling, 63,000-square-foot lodge complex from the 1960s was falling into disrepair.
Barely able to pay the bills, members considered selling the property to Clackamas County for affordable housing…