A look inside the new McMenamins opening soon in Tacoma

TACOMA, Wash. -- It's a new hangout with an old school feel.

The new McMenamins Hotel at the Elks Temple in Tacoma is opening in April. That means crunch time for crews working to have the historic building -- which will include a bar and live music venue -- ready for guests by April 24.

Q13 got a first look at the restoration and renovation going on inside.

"People stop all the time. It's a pretty iconic part of Tacoma," McMenamins Vice President Brian McMenamin said. "Once we took the scaffolding part down from the front part of the building, you could see that something was happening, so visually it was something fun to see."

Crews have transformed the 1915 structure into a hotel with bars, a ballroom, a brewery and a restaurant.

According to McMenamins website, the Elks Temple was build in the second Renaissance revival style, at a time when fraternal organizations were an important part of the community and had money to spend on beautiful buildings like this one.

It's now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"Each one is different," McMenamin explained. "This one had sat empty for a long time. There was a lot of vandalism, a lot of water damage, so basically we went down to the bones and started over again. Thankfully, we did have a lot of old photos so we could bring it back."

McMenamins has a plethora of hotels, restaurants, breweries and live music venues around Oregon and Washington.

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