CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Plans to revitalize a once-thriving hub for Black life in west Charlotte are getting closer to becoming a reality.
Supporters and even founding members of the historic Excelsior Club spoke at Tuesday night's Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners meeting, where leaders discussed funding part of the $1.5 million project.
Many of the speakers shared personal anecdotes from their time spent at the club, recalling all the friendships and connections made there.
"When I came here (to Charlotte) I did not feel safe... the Excelsior Club is where I felt safe," said the Rev. Corine Mack, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP.
"It was a social institution for entertainment, politics and progress... and fish plates. A place where prominent elected officials would shake hands and hug and have conversations with teachers, with entrepreneurs, with everyone in the community," said Taj Ferguson, one of the sons of the late civil rights attorney James Ferguson, whose family operated the club for a decade.
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Speakers hope that this "rebirth" would bring that sense of community back to the Beatties Ford corridor.
One of those ways is by prioritizing the community.
"We are not trying to build a nightclub, we are trying to build a community resource," Shawn Kennedy, founder of Kennedy Property & Development, said.
Developers hope to offer services and resources for the community, like recruitment help, especially for those with criminal records and who are unemployed, providing free breakfasts and holiday dinners that are open to the public. They also plan to host community events and work with local organizations to provide mentoring and personal finance courses.
The majority of commissioners were eager to support the project, showing excitement for what this center would do for the community.
Commissioners Susan Rodriguez-McDowell and Elaine Powell were cautious about approving the funding, wary of investing county dollars into a for-profit enterprise. Powell says that she was troubled by the county having to invest over and over in these projects.
"Why didn't any of these foundations step up?" Powell asked. "Why is it that, and it happens all the time, people keep coming to government saying we want a private-public partnership and we have corporations that want tax incentives, and they say they're partners. And they're only partners when they want money."
Developers anticipate the project to cost $8.3 million, with the developers and foundations contributing $5.3 million of it. The county and city were asked to pay $1.5 million each for the project.
County Manager Mike Bryant explained that the funds are coming from the interest on their COVID-area American Rescue Plan Act funding.
Commissioner Laura Meier was also hesitant in her decision, recalling how the county cut funding for several nonprofit organizations when they approved this year's budget.
"We cut all of these programs because we didn't have the money," Meier said. "I find it very, very difficult to approve money for a community that's not a nonprofit, it's privately owned. It just doesn't sit well with me," adding that she wanted more time to make a decision.
"I'm not saying no because I want to vote for this, because I know how important this is. I just want more information, and I want more time," she adds.
Others, like Yvette Townsend-Ingram, believe that if you pour public funds into it, there can be a return on investment.
"Sometimes it is -- you're not able to communicate to someone, to give them the empathy that they need, to see the return on investment that this will have in more than just dollars and cents," Townsend-Ingram said, explaining how a community center like this would benefit youth and make a dent on crime.
The board ultimately voted 7-2 to fund the revitalization, with Rodriguez-McDowell and Powell opposing. The construction is expected to start in 2028.
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