Under the leadership of its new owner, Viking Range Corp. has donated the old Elks Lodge in downtown Greenwood to the Fred and Margaret Carl Foundation.
The Carl Foundation is headed by Fred Carl Jr., who founded Viking and was its CEO before he retired in February.
Selim Bassoul, CEO of The Middleby Corp., which owns Viking, said in a press release Wednesday that the donation demonstrates his support for Carl and the “generous and longstanding support of, and commitment to, the city of Greenwood, its citizens and the community” shown by Carl and his wife, Margaret.
Carl said in an email to the Commonwealth Thursday that he is happy The Carl Foundation acquired the Washington Street building, which he has hoped to see renovated since 2008, the year Viking purchased the Greenwood landmark.
“I’m very happy that we were able to work things out for the Carl Foundation to get the old Elks building,” Carl said. “Although it’s spanned some five years, this process has ultimately worked out to the benefit of all involved.”
Bassoul said during a press conference in February that Viking was committed to renovating the Elks Lodge, which was built in 1913. He asked the community to hold him accountable for his promises. Viking’s new leadership had a rocky start with the public about laying off 20 percent of its workforce just a month after Middleby purchased the company.
Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams said that she believes the donation of the Elks Lodge will reassure people about Viking’s new parent company.
“Hopefully this will put some people who were skeptical of whether Bassoul was going to keep his promise at ease,” she said. “This will be a good thing for the community and will give Greenwood another venue to hold events and meetings.”
When the lodge was built by the H.L. Walden Company of Greenwood, it was one of the largest and most modern buildings in Mississippi.
The original three-story structure housed a kitchen, boiler room, billiard room and shower bath in the basement; reception halls, library and offices on the first floor; and a lodge room and ornate ballroom on the upper floor.
It served as the social hub of Greenwood and the Delta, playing host to many debutante balls, high school dances, grand receptions and other large gatherings, in addition to serving as the home of the Greenwood Elks 854, B.P.O.E., until February 2008, when it was acquired by Viking. The ballroom was the setting for one of the major segments in the blockbuster film “The Help,” which was filmed mostly in Greenwood in 2010.
When Viking purchased the lodge in 2008, it built the Elks a new building on Sgt. John A. Pittman Drive. Renovation on the old building began in 2011, but work soon slowed.
Carl said the situation is a win-win all around, for the Carl Foundation, the Elks and Viking.
“The Elks Lodge got a brand new, more compact and manageable facility in the trade that’s far more efficient and is ideally suited for their needs and provides a private event space for locals to rent,” he said. “The original Elks building will now be fully restored and will once again become a great venue for our community for public and private events. And the new owners of Viking have found a good home for a non-core asset that they really didn’t need.”
Bill Crump, Viking’s director of corporate and governmental affairs, called the donation a “perfect match.”
“They wanted to do something to honor (Carl), and he wanted to do something for the community,” he said.
• Contact Jeanie Riess at 581-7235 or jriess@gwcommonwealth.com.
