The African-American social club in Charlotte, N.C., now listed as one of the most endangered historical properties in the U.S., was once one of the largest private clubs of its type on the East Coast, with a heritage that includes hosting artists including Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong. The building needs $400,000 in repairs to be brought up to code.
An historic African-American social club in Charlotte, N.C. is one of the most endangered historical places in the nation, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP).
The Excelsior Club, is one of 11 properties around the U.S. considered to be important to the nation’s heritage that are considered at risk in 2019, due to irreparable damage or destruction, according to the NTHP.
“Listed in the Green Book [the guide for African-American travelers to help them find motels, restaurants, gas stations and other establishments that would serve them prior to the civil-rights movement, and that inspired the film that won Best Picture for the 91st Academy Awards], The Excelsior Club was a leading, private African-American social club in the Southeast, hosting artists like Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong during its heyday,” according to the NTHP.
“[The club’s] Art Moderne building needs significant investment,” the NTHP added. “The property is currently listed for sale for $1.5 million, but even if a buyer is found, a reuse plan and significant investments are necessary to ensure a strong future.”
Today, the property is in need of at least $400,000 in repairs due to years of deferred maintenance, according to the NTHP. In 2018, the property was given a one-year protection as a local landmark after its current owner filed a permit to demolish the building. That year of protection, however, expires on June 12, 2019.
“Losing this property, with the history and uniqueness that it has, would be noticed,” Michael Sullivan, a local realtor and co-founder of a preservation group for Charlotte-area properties, told the NTHP. “We’ve lost so many relics of our past, and I think the African-American community in particular [has suffered].”
The Excelsior Club was founded in 1944 by Jimmie McKee, to fulfill his long-held dream that was created after he bartended in other Charlotte-area country clubs and observed the lack of comparable clubs that accommodated African-Americans.
After researching best practices gleaned from successful clubs, McKee purchased a two-story, Foursquare-style house, built in the late 1910s or early 1920s, for $3,510 and welcomed 25 men as The Excelsior’s first members. Within just a few years, many times that number had joined. Soon the Excelsior had become one of the largest private black social clubs on the East Coast.
To meet the needs of his expanding clientele, McKee expanded and remodeled the building in 1952 into the Art Moderne structure it remains today. Using a design he likely drew up himself, he replaced the hip roof with a flat parapet one, built a two-story concrete addition, and added identical glass-block windows to the building’s facade.
White stucco was used to completely coat the exterior, and a new aluminum canopy provided cover for new arrivals. Inside, dark wood paneling helped to create a more welcoming ambiance, while blue-and-yellow sofas and armchairs served as playful furnishings, in keeping with the building’s architectural theme.
With its fresh new look, The Excelsior Club flourished as a posh social and political hub in the pre-integration South. Many local candidates for public office seeking to rally votes from the African-American community held campaign events at the club.
Despite its rapid growth, exclusivity remained a defining quality of The Excelsior Club. Candidates to join required a recommendation from a current member, then underwent a thorough screening. Applicants ranged from doctors and lawyers to teachers and businessmen. Being accepted into the club meant recognition as a respected member of the community, as well as becoming a beneficiary of McKee’s ministrations.
“The club’s growth has come because from the very beginning I’ve tried to give the best service I could, not only to the members of the club, but to the community as well,” McKee once said.
After McKee died in 1986, the club passed through several owners’ hands before state Rep. Pete Cunningham acquired it in the early 2000s. Under his stewardship, according to the NTHP, the club resembled its mid-century heyday more than at any point since.
But after Cunningham died in 2010, things began slowing down. Events became fewer and farther between, and years of deferred maintenance caught up to the building. Cunningham’s wife, state Rep. Carla Cunningham, shuttered the club in 2016 and filed the demolition permit two years later.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission (CMHLC) bestowed a local-landmark designation on The Excelsior Club that bought it a year of safety. The Commission has saved other properties in the area by purchasing them and placing covenants on them that guarantee their preservation, and had hoped to do the same for The Excelsior Club and the land it occupies, but Cunningham’s asking price of $1.5 million exceeds its budget.
“Saving it for posterity would be the main hope,” said Sullivan. “Hopefully whoever buys the property will have plans to preserve it.”
Considering the swiftness with which the city is evolving in the area around The Excelsior Club, finding a buyer with both financial means and an appreciation of its history will be an immense challenge, the NTHP feels. Gentrification and displacement have become hot-button issues in Charlotte. Property values are skyrocketing—Sullivan estimates that the city’s Belmont neighborhood has seen a 400% increase in the last 18 months—at the expense of adequate low-income housing.
The historically black neighborhood of Washington Heights, where The Excelsior Club is located, faces the same problems. The land the club sits on is worth more than the building itself to the average developer.
As June 12 approaches, the CMHLC and other preservation groups are working with community leaders to find someone who will step forward. Sullivan is leveraging his real-estate connections to spread the word about the property’s availability and hopes its appearance on the NTHP’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list will boost visibility.
One hopeful sign is that the club’s presence on the list should prove to be helpful, if history is any guide. Over 300 places have been listed in that list’s 32-year history, and in that time, fewer than 5 percent of listed sites have been lost.
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