The shuttered Elks Lodge in downtown Ventura is officially a historic landmark now, and two men hope to revamp the three-story building into a bustling performance venue.

A chain-link fence currently surrounds the Ash Street building, closed since 2003, and the spacious upstairs theater needs improvements.

But in the minds of David Armstrong and Stephen "Schaf" Schafer, it's an irreplaceable gem in a town with a budding cultural identity and several small arts organizations desperate for space.

The pair — one a land-use consultant, the other an architectural photographer — persuaded the building's owners to let them use the dusty old structure for virtually nothing as long as they clean it up, pay the utilities and provide insurance.

The pair believe they can rent it out to organizations for a few hundred dollars — nothing like the $1,500 to $2,000 per night to rent other performance venues.

"We want to keep the rental costs as low as possible," said photographer Schafer, envisioning users such as nonprofit organizations, creative start-up ventures and perhaps three to four resident performing arts groups.

The duo already have notched some impressive company. The Rubicon Theatre Co. will hold a summer youth acting program there, culminating with its presentation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the 300-seat upstairs theater. The lodge also will host the closing gala of the Rubicon International Theater Festival in July.

"The theater just needs a little love," said Brian McDonald, Rubicon's youth theater director. "The potential is there. The demand for space is most definitely there."

Built in 1928, the lodge served as the Royal Order of the Elks' headquarters for social and cultural gatherings for three-quarters of a century. The Elks have since moved to a one-story building on Knoll Drive.

The lodge qualified for landmark status because it's "an outstanding example" of the Spanish Colonial architectural style, reflecting popular buildings of the oil-boom growth period of the 1920s, according to its official application approved by the Ventura City Council this month.

The theater could benefit many local arts groups and be used for lectures or meetings, said Eileen Riddle, chairwoman of the city's Cultural Affairs Commission. She recalled dancing on the lodge's hardwood theater floor when she was a little girl.

"I have no doubt there are a lot of groups in town that would be interested in utilizing it," she said.

Armstrong and Schafer are historical preservationists who fear historic buildings around town are in danger of being converted to more profitable uses, or worse, demolished like the Mayfair Theater.

If all goes well with the lodge, other historic structures, such as the original E.P. Foster library down the street, could be fixed up to enhance the downtown cultural district, they said.

"All the building blocks for a unique cultural district are there. It's really up to us to make it a reality," said Armstrong, a land-use consultant and former city official who forged his skills in Los Angeles before relocating to Ventura and working as a city redevelopment project manager. He helped broker the deal to relocate the Top Hat Burger Palace and bathrooms to Oak Street if the popular hamburger stand is forced to move.

Signing off on the lodge deal were owners Jeff Becker, a local property manager, and Vim Jonker, owner of the Toppers Pizza chain. They bought the empty lodge for $2.2 million in 2004.

The owners have plans to build a 16-unit condominium project on an adjacent parking lot and will use tax credits to further restore the 80-year-old building, including renovating a dilapidated bar and kitchen on the ground floor into space for a new restaurant.

Construction on the condos is not scheduled to begin until next year at the earliest, the owners said. Schafer and Armstrong see no reason to wait for the renovation. The pair will hold a cleanup event June 14, complete with a "Roomba Race," pitting robotic vacuum cleaners on the theater floor.

"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make this incredible space a viable arts venue," Armstrong said. "It's time to stop talking and start doing."