PARKERSBURG - About six months after relocating downtown, a local fraternal organization is once again on the move.
The Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 2307 is listing its Avery Street building for sale.
The group relocated back to the building in March, after selling its Lubeck Avenue property to the state for a West Virginia Department of Highways regional office.
Article Photos
About six months after returning to downtown Parkersburg, the Eagles are once again on the move. The group’s 406 Avery St. building is being listed through a local realty company for just under a half-million dollars. (Photo by Jody Murphy)
Calls to Eagles officials were not returned, but the building at 406 Avery St. is listed through a Vienna realty company for $499,999.
In March, Frank Wolfe, an Eagles trustee, said the group had seen a dwindling membership.
In early 2011 Eagles members voted to sell their 28-acre parcel that included a baseball field, concession stand, a pond and picnic shelters. The 25,900-square-foot building, built in 1998, included ball and banquet rooms, office space, a massive bar area and a fully equipped kitchen.
The Eagles Lubeck Avenue building was host to numerous banquets, including Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Allohak Council of the Boy Scouts, the National Rifle Association and Wood County Schools.
The property was listed for $2.7 million. It was purchased by the state for $2.48 million early last year.
The Eagles then relocated to its former Aerie at 406 Avery St. Prior to its move to Lubeck Avenue, the Eagles had been on Avery Street since the 1950s. Wolfe told The News and Sentinel in March the group had outgrown the building and needed to expand.
In March 2010, then-lodge president J.R. Ruble said members voted to put the facility on the market. Ruble told The News and Sentinel a number of factors- declining membership and activity, the health department's indoor air regulations and the widespread growth of video lottery- pushed the need to downsize.
Ruble said the club had about 2,500 members, but less than 10 percent of those members were around on a regular basis.
