Community remembers historic Excelsior Club amid demolition

CHARLOTTE — Demolition is officially underway at the historic Excelsior Club with plans to rebuild one of Charlotte’s most important landmarks.

For many, watching the Excelsior Club come down is bittersweet.

The west Charlotte nightclub opened in 1944 and closed in 2016.

“I had to stop and get pictures for the memories,” Haywood McGuine, who lives nearby, said. “It was beautiful, nice environment, great people.”

In its heyday, it was a social and political hub for Charlotte’s Black community. Its history is measured not just in years but in the memories made inside.

Now, developers plan to build a near-replica in its place, complete with a restaurant, museum and community meeting space. A total of $3 million in public funding will help pay for the project.

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Charlotte City Councilmember Malcolm Graham says it’s an investment in the entire Beatties Ford Road corridor.

“I’m extremely excited about what’s about to happen there, bringing more energy back to Beatties Ford Road,” Graham said. “It’s not about investing in a club but the corridor itself.”

Those who live and work nearby say they’re glad the club’s legacy will live on, even as a new chapter begins.

“So much of Charlotte is changing in a way that I don’t recognize even though I grew up here,” Roshica Paysour, a hair stylist who works next to the club, said. “I’m glad that they are preserving some of the original history.”

Developers leading the project say the goal isn’t just to rebuild but to preserve the legacy. The new Excelsior Club is expected to open in 2028.

The club was once the premier Black social club of the Southeast, welcoming stars such as Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, and James Brown.

Its future had been in limbo for years.

The owners closed the club in 2016 for supposed repairs, but it never opened.

Last year, a developer came forward with plans to rebuild the social hub.

In October, city council unanimously agreed to spend the money to revive the historic space.