By Aswad Walker
With the Grand Reopening of the historic Eldorado Ballroom now in the rearview mirror, it’s now time to get back to the institution’s primary business of being a Houston hub for entertainment, commerce and community.
The significance of the Eldorado’s resurrection is not lost on Eureka Gilkey, executive director of Project Row Houses, the current caretakers of the Eldorado, that Gilkey says is being “regifted” to the community.
“It’s important for us to recognize what this means to the community,” Gilkey said. “So, when we say ‘re-gifting,’ we mean that we’re just the stewards of this space. We’re just lucky that it’s been bestowed upon us, and we have the privilege of managing it, but it’s really the communities. And it’s also a part of our work here as the management district entity for the Third World Cultural Arts District that we rehabilitate and protect spaces like this.”
Past
The Eldorado Ballroom, opened in 1939 by husband and wife entrepreneurs Clarence and Anna Johnson Dupree, serves as the happening spot in Third Ward, and played host to all the big-name Black entertainers. During Jim Crow, Blacks coveted the “Rado” as many called it, because they could see the best entertainment in the country with dignity during a time when Blacks could not enter white-owned establishments.
“Think of all the things that were going on that time: people preparing to go to war overseas. If you were Black, you had to go pay your ticket and sit in the crow’s nest (segregated seating in “white” theaters). Who wants to do that? So, they built a space that was based on Black Joy, celebration and revelry. Artists would come to town and play the mainstream institutions, but this is where the real party happened. So, the likes of everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Louis Armstrong to Houston’s finest, Jewel Brown, Horace Grigsby, Arnett Cobb, they all played here. This was the place to see and be seen, but also the place to play if you were anybody that was in the musical world,” shared Gilkey.
Kenneth McGowan, who oversaw the field supervision of the restoration said big stars, Black and white, hung out at the Eldorado, including Elvis Presley.
“Many of the biggest names, including Elvis Presley, hung out here after hours. But a lot of celebrities did when they came and performed here. They stayed in this place for those after-hours jam sessions. And not just big names. A lot of the local bands performed here too,” he said.
But the Eldorado wasn’t just a music venue.
“It was a community gathering spot, a place for our community to celebrate life milestones, baby showers, graduations, weddings, you name them. Just a place where people could come, let their hair down and experience a little joy, if only for a moment,” Gilkey added.
During the institution’s glory days it suffered two horrific fires, the first in 1941 and the second in the early 1950s. Still, it was able to not only survive, but thrive. However, with integration during the late 1960s and early 70s, the Eldorado fell on hard times and was sold shortly thereafter. Eventually, Hubert “Hub” Finkelstein acquired the property, saving it from demolition. And in 1999, he donated it to PRH.
PRH initiated patchwork repairs to make the space operable, until the decision was made to go all-out in bringing the institution back to its former glory.
Present
The current transformation was made possible by a successful $9.7 million capital campaign spearheaded by PRH board members and co-chairs of the Eldorado Capital Campaign, Anita Smith and Hasty Johnson.
“This has been a long time coming,” Smith said. “When we acquired the Eldorado Ballroom, we did amazing things with what we had, but… just to look around and see how we’ve come. I’m thrilled.”
Gilkey gives the lion’s share of the credit for the successful fundraising efforts to Smith and her co-chair Hasty Johnson, while making sure to shout out the major donors.
“(Johnson and Smith) did a lot of the footwork in reaching out to donors and making sure that we had the capital that we needed. The Kinder Foundation played a huge role in being our principal funder, as well as the Houston Endowment, the Brown Foundation, the Cullen Foundation, and the list of individual donors is so long that I probably would be remiss and leave someone out.”
David Bucek, who has extensive experience with historic buildings, and his team from Stern and Bucek Architects, oversaw the design. Forney Construction served as the general contractor. A team from Hines, led by Johnson and Bert Brown III, stewarded the building committee which has overseen the project as it has unfolded over more than five years.
Future
McGowan and crew worked many long days and nights, not only in preparation for the March 30 Grand Reopening, but also for the institution’s varied uses moving forward, including entertainment functions, community meetings, businesses and regular customers at the eatery located on the first floor.
Gilkey said Eldorado visitors will be treated to a modern facility with a fully refurbished ballroom with multiple green rooms for performers, meeting spaces, art gallery, private dining area, outside patio, a second-floor side deck, ADA-compliant bathrooms, and for the first time, an elevator.
Additionally, the space will feature a “fast casual place where customers can get fresh food.” And PRH will pass the property management reigns to Chris Williams and the Lucille’s 1913 hospitality group.
Gilkey sees all the individual upgrades as important, but views the Eldorado’s return as a viable institution as priceless.
“More than anything, they should understand that this cultural gem is back, back in the neighborhood, and it’s here to stay. Houston has this long, storied history of just tearing down something and putting up a marker like ‘Here lies…’ So, we are just so extremely proud that we can capture and re-gift this back to the community; that it exist into perpetuity, and that it continues to tell the story of Black joy, Black celebration and liberation for years to come.”