CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The Charlotte City Council on Monday night voted unanimously to use $1.5 million to help fund the rebirth of The Excelsior Club located on Beatties Ford Road.
One by one, council members said they were excited about the project and called the funding a down payment to uplift that community and recapture the legacy.
Community members showed up at the meeting with signs that read The Rebirth - The Excelsior Club.
Neighbors have been demanding that something be done to the club that has been sitting vacant and in disrepair for about 10 years. The Excelsior Club opened back in 1944. It was a safe space where African Americans could gather for entertainment and to organize politically.
At the city council meeting, politicians said the club will be for everyone and it will be a place that can stimulate economic energy. At Large Council member James Mitchell said there were discussions to turn that property into a gas station or affordable housing.
He said those options weren't a great fit. Mitchell says the community wanted a rebirth. Plans call for tearing the building down and replacing it with a restaurant, meeting space, outdoor entertainment, and a museum that will honor the past. Mitchell believes the new building will be beneficial for all.
"Every corridor is excited when they see something new," Mitchell said. "People get excited when they can see construction. Historic Washington Heights Representative Mattie Marshall say they have been waiting on this for a long time, and I think we can deliver on something that the whole community and City can be proud of."
Mecklenburg County Commissioners already approved giving $1.5 million to the project - now the Charlotte city council did the same thing.
The total project costs more than $8 million. Public funding equals $3 million now the developers will go to the business community to raise the rest. Co-Developer Shawn Kennedy says that may be the biggest challenge.
"We need to bring the lighthouse back to Beatties Ford Road," Kennedy said. "There are so many things that Beatties Ford Road encompasses - community, space, history, arts, culture, and a catalyst for development on Beatties Ford Road. It's not one thing it brings to our city and county - it brings so many things, so hopefully the business community can see that and get behind it."
The city says it will use unspent COVID money to help fund The Excelsior Club. If all the funding is raised a New Excelsior Club could be up and running in a few years.