Magnificent Dunbar Hotel extends performance run to Dec. 28

December 23, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Dunbar Hotel in 1928 | DWP

Dunbar Hotel in 1928 | DWP

The Dunbar Hotel was not just any hotel, as suggested by the title of the Robey Theatre Company’s extended production “The Magnificent Dunbar Hotel” — it was a cultural hub where Black writers, singers and actors gathered in Los Angeles during the 1930s and 1940s.

The play written by Levy Lee Simon and directed by Ben Guillory introduces the audience to this world of luxury on Central Avenue that harbored Black leaders and performers from the Jim Crow laws that prohibited them from staying elsewhere.

“Informative and engaging, this underappreciated chapter of our local history is portrayed with panache and grace,” Philip Brandes said in his L.A. Times review. [Read more…]

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Encore for South LA’s Dunbar Hotel

September 10, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre helps revive a historic jazz landmark on Central Avenue.

Dunbar-Slider

Marisa Labog and Joe Schenck rehearse on the balcony in the lobby of Dunbar Village. | Christina Campodonico

 

By day, a “For Lease” sign hangs in the window of the Dunbar Hotel’s empty storefront on Central Avenue, but on Saturday night this barren room came to life as dancers from the Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre kicked up dust from the concrete floor, grabbed onto the room’s barred windows and clung to its steel columns, captivating a crowd of dance-lovers and community leaders who descended upon the historic South Los Angeles landmark to see “Dancing at Dunbar.”

Hours earlier, at 5 p.m., the troupe previewed its choreography for a handful of residents living at Dunbar Village, the affordable housing development on site with the Dunbar Hotel.

An air of easy comfort pervaded the lobby. Some audience members relaxed in large leather armchairs, nibbling on fruit and cookies. Others milled in and out of the lobby with their bikes and grocery bags, pausing briefly to look up at dancers Marisa Labor and Joe Schenck as they wrapped themselves around columns and bannisters on the second-level balcony overhead. [Read more…]

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18th annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival

July 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment


Cuba LA performing at the 18th Annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival.

Cuba LA performing at the 18th Annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival.

Count on it:  the last weekend of July is the weekend for the Central Avenue Jazz Festival.  This year is the 18th annual festival on Central Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd streets.

This year’s line-up included old favorites like Ernie Andrews and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, and Latin jazz acts like Cuba LA.

The festival pays tribute to Central Avenue’s historic connection to the Los Angeles jazz scene when musicians like Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and Billy Holiday stayed at the Dunbar Hotel and jammed at the jazz clubs that dotted the street.

The Dunbar Hotel was renovated and recently opened as a senior living facility.   During this year’s jazz festival, young music act, such as the A Place Called Home music group played in the Dunbar’s courtyard. [Read more…]

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South Central Avenue: On its way to renovation

October 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment


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The Dunbar Hotel

“Are you taking pictures of the Dunbar Hotel? Let me tell you a story. My grandfather used to come here all the time in the thirties. He knew all of the greats. My friend, this place is historic.”

The author of these words is Tony, a 61 year-old African American Central Avenue resident, who radiates pride and respect as he remembers the past.

Ninth District Councilwoman Jan Perry, a candidate for mayor in the spring’s Los Angeles elections, shares Tony´s views on the historic importance of both this building and the surrounding neighborhood. Acting as a tour guide in the 2nd annual Found L.A: Festival of Neighborhoods, hosted by the non-profit L.A. Commons, Perry began her South Central Avenue tour in one of the most important landmarks of the area: the Dunbar Hotel.

Built in 1928, the Dunbar became a magnet for traveling African Americans. Originally known as the Hotel Somerville, “it was the focal point of the Central Avenue community during the 1930s and 1940s,” said Perry. “It hosted the first national convention of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) to be held in the western United States.” Among many other noteworthy people, the Dunbar received Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, W.E.B. Du Bois and Thurgood Marshall.

Aware that the neighborhood’s vibrant past has gone astray, Perry is leading a rebirth for this block. The reason she picked the Dunbar Hotel as the starting point of the tour was to show the advancement of the Dunbar Village project.

This development will refurbish the Dunbar Hotel and renovate the existing Sommerville I and II apartments. All three properties will be connected to create the Village, an intergenerational community for seniors and families. The project, developed by Thomas Safran and Associates (TSA) and the local non-profit, Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) is scheduled to be completed by February, 2013.

Perry said that a similar project was tried in the 1990s but that it didn’t work because it was mismanaged.

Central Avenue Constituent Services Center

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The rooftop plaza of the Central Avenue Constituent Services Center

Just a block away from the Dunbar Village, at Central and East 43rd Street, is Jan Perry’s district office: the Central Avenue Constituent Services Center. The two-year-old $14.7 million building was the tour’s second stop.

With a rooftop plaza –the first municipal green roof for the city of Los Angeles –the building was architecturally created to stimulate and bring joy to its historic neighborhood. The roof garden is planted with over 40 plant species native to Southern California, has wooden benches and is open to the public.

“I want the Service Center to be an extension of people´s homes,” said Perry while showing the group the rooftop. The Center sponsors a farmers market every Thursday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and provides several educational activities aimed at helping community neighbors.

Bowers and Sons Cleaners

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From left to right: Vivian Bowers, Councilwoman Jan Perry, Greg Cowan

The tour´s third stop was at Bowers and Sons Cleaners, a dry-cleaning business run by Vivian Bowers. With the help of her husband, Greg Cowan, this entrepreneurial woman manages a successful business.

Ms. Bowers is also president of the Central Avenue Business Association (CABA), which works to revitalize and revamp the business landscape of Central Avenue. The Bowers are interested in helping improve the community, and they serve on numerous advisory boards such as the Central Avenue Collaborative, the Council District Nine Community Advisory Committee, and the Central Avenue Historic Corridor Streetscape Project.

Final stop: The YMCA

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The 28th Street YMCA building

The tour´s fourth and final destination was the 28th Street YMCA building that was designed by architect Paul Williams and constructed in 1926. Mr. Williams was the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects and known for designing homes for many Hollywood stars. The center is being rehabilitated to provide 49 units of permanent supportive housing for low-income individuals, community space designed to promote economic and workforce development, and supportive services.

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Discovering a piece of Black LA history

December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment


By Walter Melton

imageEditor’s Note: Walter Melton grew up in the Leimert Park. He is a columnist LABeez, a regular contributor of Leimert Park Beat and a periodic contributor to Intersections South LA. He has a passionate knowledge and interest in the history of South L.A., and especially the colorful past of the Dunbar Hotel. His mother was a well-known dancer in the 40’s and is inextricably linked to Central Avenue; she was a featured dancer at Club Alabam as well as major venues throughout the country during that era, including the Cotton Club and Savoy. When we received word that Councilwoman Jan Perry would be celebrating groundbreaking on the Dunbar Hotel renovation, we asked Walter if he wanted to cover it for us. He jumped at the chance and sent us this sidebar from his evening at the Dunbar.

The star of the show on Monday was the Dunbar Hotel and all of the history it contained. Some people were there because they love history. Some were there because they had to be there, such as the politicians. Some were there because they were curious. Some thought they knew the history but few really did.

I was one of the few that was directly tied to it. My mother’s photo remained on the wall when I walked in.

image Walter’s mother Margaret is the middle dancer

There was a handful of Black men and women who grew up in Leimert Park or Baldwin Hills. We were talking when I noticed this piece of paper on the wall. I had never seen it but it drew me to it. So I walked over and read it.

I was floored.

Every kid from Leimert Park in the 60’s went to Dolphin’s of Hollywood to buy records. It was an institution. However, I never knew it was connected to Central Avenue until Monday. As soon as I read the paper I yelled over to the other old LA guys and women. The whole building turned when I yelled and watched with fascinated curiosity when we started giving each other high fives. They knew it was a special moment. We learned something about ourselves. image

None of us knew the history because the store was at neither of the locations mentioned in the historical synopsis. And then when I went back to my office, I did some research. I found out John Dolphin was murdered. A colorful account of his killing was on the Internet. I sent out all of the information to every old Black LA person I knew.

Everyone wanted to know why I was there. I told them. They wanted me to thank you for sending me. Must have been 50 of them that wanted me to thank you.

That place holds a special place for me. Four months before Jimmy Hendrix died, he gave a concert in LA. I wanted to go. I doubled-dated with a guy who was at Harvard School with me. The movie The Graduate was filmed at his house. We could not get tickets at any of the locations in white neighborhoods in the Valley. Each location had a line of about 400 people. So something told me to call Dolphins on Crenshaw just south of King Boulevard. They said no one was waiting to buy tickets.

WE FLEW to the store from the Valley playing the Rolling Stones on the cassette player. I walked out of the van, step into the store and purchased my tickets. just like that.

We never knew the origin of the name Dolphins of Hollywood until Monday. And that store contains thousands of memories just like the one I shared with you for all of us.

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Dunbar Hotel takes a step toward renovation

December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment


A who’s who of the jazz world — Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, Lena Horne — once laid their heads to rest in the Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue. It was the center of the West Coast jazz scene in the thirties and forties; the first African-American owned hotel in Los Angeles.

In recent years years, the Dunbar has fallen on hard times as the neighborhood became better known for poverty and violence than a vibrant heart of Black Los Angeles. It housed low-income apartments, occupied largely by elderly residents.
image On Monday, CD 9 Councilwoman Jan Perry joined community, government, and private partners at the historic hotel to break ground on the Dunbar Village project.

“Central Avenue and the Dunbar Hotel have long been an important part of our Los Angeles history. It is wonderful to see the Avenue come alive again and know that this historic landmark will be restored for people to enjoy for generations to come,” said Perry. “Dunbar Village will preserve our shared history, create quality jobs for local youth, and offer much-needed affordable housing for families and seniors.”

According to Perry, developers were asked to create plans that “enhanced and celebrated the historic integrity of the Dunbar Hotel property, while offering quality housing and job opportunities for the community.”

Thomas Safran and Associates (TSA) and the local non-profit, Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) were chosen for a partnership to develop the $29.3 million Dunbar Village development.

Dunbar Village includes refurbishing the Dunbar Hotel, including 40 units of affordable senior housing, and the renovation of the existing Sommerville I and II apartments, with 41 units of affordable family housing. All three properties will be connected to create the Dunbar Village, an 83-unit mixed-use, intergenerational community for seniors and families. image

The project with give jobs to local young people involved in the CRCD’s construction and trades training program. The CRCD estimates the project will create 158 construction jobs and 15 permanent jobs. Perry says the buildings will be Silver LEED certified.

A bit of history of the Dunbar, courtesy of Councilwoman Jan Perry’s office:
Hotel Somerville; owned by and named after the University of Southern California’s first African-American graduate, Dr. John Somerville, opened in 1928 to serve African-American’s seeking accommodations while visiting the City of Los Angeles. The hotel hosted abolitionist leaders, writers, and musicians, such as W.E.B Dubois, Langston Hughes, and Lena Horne. It became the focal point of Central Avenue from the 1920’s to the 1950’s, due to its high profile visitors and first class accommodations. The hotel was later renamed the Dunbar Hotel, after African-American poet, Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Until the 1970’s, the Dunbar Hotel created economic activity on Central Avenue and was one of Los Angeles’ epicenters of African-American thought during the civil rights movement.
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