About

Non-profit organizations are often housed in historic buildings that have no association with the organization's history or mission. New Life Fellowship Church in Elmhurst, Queens, is one such organization, inhabiting a former clubhouse completed in 1924 for the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 878. Designed by the Ballinger Company, the building's exterior is designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, while its eclectic interiors feature Adamesque-, Tudor- and Mayan-inspired motifs. Having acquired the building, New Life Fellowship Church was tasked with adapting it to meet its needs both as a house of worship and as a neighborhood resource focusing on wellness, youth employment and charitable works, while also addressing its ongoing maintenance issues. Gregory Dietrich Preservation’s work on the project entailed getting the property listed on the National Register of Historic Places and securing a $500,000 matching grant from the New York State Consolidated Funding Application grant program to address its maintenance issues.