The 3+1⁄2-story Italian Renaissance-style main building and two-story annex were both built in 1923–1924 and designed by the Ballinger Company.

It features a granite-block terrace with granite balustrade, limestone arched entrance, and an elaborate cornice made of architectural terracotta.

In the late 20th century, Lodge 878 saw declining membership amid Queens' changing demographics, and the building was rented out for other events.

The building is a New York City Designated Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks' Lodge 878 building was designed by the Ballinger Company[1][2] in the Italian Renaissance Revival style.

[5] Elks Lodge 878 occupies a land lot on the south side of Queens Boulevard, between Simonson and Goldsmith Streets.

The lodge's annex is on the east side of the block toward Goldsmith Street, while the rear addition faces south in the direction of Grand Avenue.

An electronic sign is at the western end of the block, at the corner of Queens Boulevard and Simonson Street.

[12] On the first story, in the center bay of the northern elevation, is the main entrance arch, which contains a double door and a semicircular window, and is topped by an elaborate keystone.

The arch is flanked by a pair of Doric-style engaged columns, which support a frieze with the text queensborough lodge, no.

The side elevations, including the four-bay-wide rear addition, contain casement windows with lion's-head keystones.

On the original building, but not its rear addition, the second-floor windows are set beneath curved architraves, with balustrades at the bottom of each opening.

Similarly, the original building's third-floor window openings are topped by scrolled keystones and set beneath carved limestone panels.

[13] A small cornice separates the third floor from the attic, which contains wide carved limestone panels flanking each of the narrow windows.

[16] The bowling alley was subsequently converted to a multipurpose room, while the rest of the basement was reconfigured with classrooms.

There are two rooms, one to each side, which served as the men's and women's lounges; they have bronze chandeliers, parquet wooden floors, and decorative fireplace mantels.

It is themed to Mayan or Aztec culture, with stained glass panels symbolizing charity, justice, brotherly love, and fidelity, the cardinal virtues of the Elks.

To accommodate the 200-foot (61 m) width of Queens Boulevard, buildings along the route were demolished, and the future Lodge 878 lot was decreased in size in 1910.

[2] The Elks, meanwhile, had been founded in 1868 as an all-white, all-male fraternal organization, growing rapidly in subsequent years.

[33] The lodge was opened on October 26, 1924,[3][7] and the Elks' grand exalted ruler John G. Price traveled to Queens in December 1924 to dedicate the new building.

[7] The Elks planned to eventually add a four-story structure behind the main building, with a connecting passageway, but this was not built.

[3][35] Sidney L. Strauss, a lodge member,[36] was instead hired to design the three-story rear addition, replacing the single-story kitchen.

[9] The New York Times described the lodge later that year as "an anachronism with an all-white membership that has failed to attract minorities".

[10] The lodge started to rent out its facilities for celebrations such as Chinese weddings and Latin American quinceañeras.

During the sale negotiations, the Elks stipulated that they wished to keep occupying the building's first floor for 99 years without paying rent.

[11] Because of the split ownership of the main building and its annex, these were divided into two separate lots for tax purposes.

The New Life Fellowship Church turned the main building's rear addition into a health center in 2009, as well as made various improvements for handicap accessibility in the 2010s.

[16] The series' last article praised the Ballinger Company as having "carried out, brilliantly and effectively, an adaptation of the highly decorative style of the ancient Maya builders of Central America.