After moving to a new location June 1, the new Moose Lodge in the old Skyline Plaza is still attracting new members to an organization many members see as a second family.

“We’ve gained so many new people coming here. I think it’s because it’s bigger, brighter, better. The parking, the access – and it’s a fun place to be,” Jeff Bennett said.

Bennett has been a member of the Moose Lodge for about eight years and used to work as a bartender. He said the Moose Lodge had to move from its prior location of over 55 years on Main Court as part of the flood mitigation program. A committee looking for the new home for the Moose had little time left to find a viable site, Bennett said.

“We were down to basically our last straw,” Bennett said. “It was looking like maybe we might not have a Moose Lodge. It was crunch time.”

On a day off, Bennett said he went to Skyline Plaza to look at the food location and tried to envision what the Moose Lodge would look like there. He and the Moose gaming manager later went to meet with Curtis Smith, part owner of Skyline Plaza who now works as the Moose administrator.

“We each had note pads and ran out of ink writing down ideas and sketching out preliminary floor plans and we came up with some feasible ideas,” Bennett said.

The Moose holds dinners on Wednesdays and Fridays and has a Moose omelet breakfast once a month. A number of charitable benefits are also held there, Bennett said. The increased amount of space at the new location allows the organization to hold more events, Bennett said, because the space was more divided at the old lodge.

Aside from benefits, Smith said the Moose also occasionally has pancake breakfasts on Sundays. Smith said the Moose is not open on Sundays, but it is open for Viking games.

“We’re having people walk through our doors. We’re not open, but they see our beautiful facility,” Smith said.

Bennett said there are larger social quarters to hold more people, which is made up of a large horseshoe bar with over 50 bar stools, plus tables and chairs, Bennett said. Some of the tables have been reused from Skyline food court and some of the chairs are from the old lodge so, as Bennett said, “a little bit of the old lodge lives on in the new lodge.”

While they took a few things like the dishwasher from the old site, Bennett said they updated a lot of their equipment, adding things like new convection ovens, a walk-in cooler and other things that equal a more efficient kitchen.

The new Moose Lodge also has a larger events center that can host a wedding of more than 300 people, Bennett said.

Bennett photographed the old Moose location, and he said he photographed the food court before they converted it to Moose Lodge. Bennett also took pictures of the demolition of the old lodge, pictures some members can’t look at.

“I’ve got one lady, she will not look at that little album,” Bennett said. “She just doesn’t want to look at it. She’s been a member since before 1957, the year I was born. I think she held every position on the women’s board. This is like her home. It’s a big family.”

Bennett also called the Moose his second home, and he’s glad they have a lease for 20 years for their new second home.

Bennett said many members have contributed to making the new Moose feel like a second home. Much of the decorated art work has been made or donated by members, Bennett said.

“I’ve got one brother. I’ve got a lot brothers and sisters when I’m here,” Bennett said. “There are a lot of good people here. We have fun.”

Adding to that family is something that has pleased Bennett about the new location. Bennett and Smith both said they’re pleased with the new location that continues to attract new members.

“It’s exciting,” Smith said. “I thought after we moved in June 1 that it would taper off and then you’d have to have maybe a contest or a promotion to get members. I was gone over the Christmas holiday and came back and there were nine new applications on my desk.”

The Moose has averaged about six new members every two weeks since the move, something Bennett said wouldn’t have happened at the old location.

“If we could have stayed at the old lodge I could pretty much guarantee we would not have the membership we do now. I think this move was very crucial to our survival,” Bennett said.

Smith has also taken pride in attracting new, younger members to the new moose that has much more natural light and better parking than the first site.

“How do you join the YMCA? Go out and swim. Go out and lift weights,” Smith said. “Why would I join your church? I haven’t heard the music. I haven’t heard the pastor. Let me come a couple Sundays. Same here. You come a few weeks.”

As part owner of Skyline Plaza, Smith said the Moose are good tenants who bring in other business. Smith also said the move was easy for Skyline Plaza because the tile and ceiling didn’t have to be replaced.

The Moose does not own the new site, but renting it has some perks, Bennett said. Things like plowing, mowing and shoveling are done by Skyline Plaza, and certain bills are included in their rent, Bennett said.

The old food court used to only be an area where people would walk or drink coffee, and Smith calls having a tenant like the Moose Lodge in that location a win-win.

“From a mall standpoint, people used to walk out here,” Smith said. “We’re getting money now from where people used to walk. It’s like getting money out of your hallway at home. … This was a dead end of the mall and now we have a thriving business.”