"Did you hear that?" asked 83-year-old trumpeter Al Williams, Jr. "I just played the first note here since 1968."
That sweet sound, carrying through the Manhattan Casino ballroom during a press preview last Saturday, heralded a new era for the long-vacant entertainment venue. This weekend, the Casino, once the center of African-American social life in St. Petersburg, will hold a grand re-opening celebration with a Friday night gala featuring the Dizzy Gillespie All Stars, with Roy Hargrove and Grammy Award-winner Cyrus Chestnut. Joining them: Williams, who first played the Casino as a member of its house band when he was 13.
"The Manhattan Casino was the fulcrum of a thriving, but insular, community," says Studio@620's Bob Devin Jones, who co-authored a 2001 musical about the Casino. "Insular because of segregation."
In the 1880s, African Americans migrated to Florida for job opportunities with the Orange Belt Railroad, and remained in St. Petersburg to work in the city's burgeoning tourist industry. But the Sunshine City was not as welcoming to the men and women who built the railroad as it was to the people who came here to visit. African Americans were prohibited from living and socializing in areas north of Central Avenue because the city did not want tourists to encounter them.
As a result, a black community grew in South St. Petersburg, with many of its churches and social clubs located in and around the area's main thoroughfare, 22nd Street. No destination was more popular than the Manhattan Casino, which opened its doors in 1927. Home to weekend dances with live bands, special events and parties, it was named after the city that nurtured an original American art form: jazz.
Jazz and dance music was popular with white audiences throughout the country, including St. Petersburg. Black jazz musicians and big bands would play for white audiences at The Coliseum, and because of strictly enforced Jim Crow laws, would then stop at the Manhattan Casino and play separate shows for black audiences. Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, and Dizzy Gillespie all performed at the Casino.
The legendary venue closed its doors in 1968 and has remained vacant for the last 43 years. The City of St. Petersburg, under former Mayor Baker's administration, purchased the building and invested in renovations. The street-level spaces are not yet complete, but the upstairs ballroom is ready to host events like this weekend's festivities and will be available for rental by the public.
The Casino opening could mark a fresh direction for a community that has historically sacrificed pieces of its history for tourism and development. Where St. Petersburg's downtown and waterfront districts are clearly benefiting from focused efforts to spur job creation and boost local tourism, that kind of investment has historically eluded Midtown. But recent developments suggest that arts-related businesses could be an important catalyst.
The old Orange Belt Railroad train station at Fifth Avenue S. and 22nd Street is home to St. Pete Clay. Just blocks away from Central Avenue and the Grand Central District, artists have been slowly moving in and renovating the warehouses that now dominate the once-popular social promenade. Duncan McLellan Glass Studio and Gallery is just blocks away from the Manhattan Casino and hosts monthly parties; Zen Glass Studio recently moved from Bartlett Park into the Midtown district and will soon be hosting events.
And now there's the Casino. Last year, Urban Development Solutions (UDS) was the only organization to submit a proposal for the venue in response to an RFP from the city to encourage Midtown investment. The UDS plan included a commercial center in the lower floor to create living wage jobs for St. Petersburg residents, but the Mayor and City Council rejected the proposal, citing too much financial risk.
St. Petersburg City Councilman Karl Nurse still sees potential in the idea. He says it is "in our community's interest to come to a mutually satisfactory agreement with [UDS], and I believe we can take another run at this and work it out." Newsome also hopes to work with the city to move forward on the project, but indicates that he isn't opposed to exploring other avenues for re-development.
Terri Lipsey-Scott, chair of the Carter G. Woodson Museum, and organizer of this weekend's grand re-opening celebration, is pleased that the city will continue to manage the venue. But she's particularly happy that musicians like Williams are getting the chance to play again at their musical home. "I'm just excited for these guys," she say. "They wanted to come back here and play one more time."
Williams, who's been playing the trumpet since he was 11, found his way to the instrument via Gibbs High School music teacher Alvin Downing, who recruited players for the school band to replace members who'd been drafted into military service during World War II. The marching band morphed into the dance band that became a Casino staple.
During last Saturday's preview, onlookers got a glimpse of the venue's past and future life. Following his opening salvo, Williams launched into an impromptu jam session with fellow veteran musicians on sax and trombone. As they improvised their way through Gershwin's "Summertime," you could feel the ballroom come alive.