Featuring: La Lucha, Brandon Robertson Quartet and The PK Trio
Hosted by: Bryant Monteilh, anchor, host and reporter for WGCU Public Media
McCollum Hall is a catalyst renovation project in promoting redevelopment in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. redevelopment area for the Fort Myers CRA. Built in 1938 by Clifford “Buck” McCollum, Sr., a black businessman and entrepreneur, and his wife Gertrude, McCollum Hall was the centerpiece of commerce, music and entertainment in the Dunbar Community.
A popular stop for touring black entertainers on the Chitlin’ Circuit of the 1930s-1950s, its second-floor dance hall jumped to life when musicians took to the stage, including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, B.B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Otis Redding and other jazz and blues greats.
Powered by HAPCO Music Foundation. Made possible with partnerships from: City of Fort Myers; River District Alliance; Lee County Black History Society; FGCU Bower School of Music & the Arts; Thirty8 Collective; Collaboratory; and Lee Pitts Live.
Since 1984, the Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency has spearheaded programs and policies designed to reverse deterioration, create jobs, revitalize the business climate, increase property values, and encourage active participation and investment by citizens.
