Colored Musicians Club gets $300,000 boost
Museum will recall jazz group’s history
Published: November 25, 2009, 12:30 am
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The campaign to build a museum on the lower floor of the Colored Musicians Club hit a high note Tuesday.
Mayor Byron W. Brown announced the city would provide $300,000 to commemorate the jazz organization’s history at 145 Broadway.
“This is the longest continuously operating colored musicians club — African-American musicians club — in the entire United States,” Brown said. “The Colored Musicians Club will not only be preserving the rich history of the club, and the tremendous artists who have played at this club over the years, but it will also be adding to the rich cultural tourism amenities that exist in this community.”
Groundbreaking is expected in early 2010, with planned completion in fall 2011 in advance of a conference by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The total cost is estimated at $900,000.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said George Scott, the club’s president, who plays saxophone there. “I’m just glad it’s finally coming together, and the dream is actually going into action. I can’t wait for 2011 when it’s done, and we actually have people coming through.”
Planned exhibits include a history of the club by decade, audio and video storytelling stations, artifacts, a brief movie about the club and its formation during a period of racial segregation, and interactive stations.
Hadley Exhibits of Buffalo will oversee the museum’s design and construction.
The club, together with the nearby Michigan Street Baptist Church and Nash House Museum, make up the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor.
Charles Reedy, Willie Dorsey and Macy Favor, three musicians who started playing in the club in the 1940s and continue to do so today, turned out for Tuesday’s announcement.
Favor, who recalled taking the Greyhound bus from Pittsburgh in 1948 with a fellow musician straight to the club, said he was pleased at the prospect of a bright future for the venue after seeing it survive “lean times.”
“It’s gratifying, and to have a press conference with the mayor today, and to receive $300,000 from the city — you can’t beat that,” said Favor, who hosts “Jazz Favorites” on WBFO-FM on Sunday nights.
The museum will join other enhancements in the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor.
The Nash House Museum, which honors the life of the Rev. J. Edward Nash Sr., opened in May 2007. The Michigan Street Baptist Church, which Nash headed for 61 years and was a stop along the Underground Railroad, has had recent exterior improvements.
The city also recently finished installing new curbs and sidewalks along that stretch of Michigan Street.
msommer@buffnews.com
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