“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.” ~ Zig Ziglar
I had an awesome adventure today. This building was Dixieland Gardens, an African American club established outside the city limits in 1937 that brought in the best American bands – from Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald to Chick Webb, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and a host of smaller national acts. Michael Satterly (below) is refurbing the place, and he was sweet enough to walk Reinette Jones and I through the building, explaining what he’s learned so far, which surprisingly, isn’t much. How can a place that brought in the best bands in the country not be remembered? It’s not ancient history either. Unfortunately, it happens all too often. Dixieland Gardens wasn’t open long, likely because in 1943, a white UK student – seated in the white section of the club – was shot and killed by a disgruntled city bus driver (also white) during one of the club’s dance nights. That’s right: this was a dance hall in Jim Crow Era Lexington that had space for blacks and whites. That in itself is amazing.
Today, this area of Lexington is well within the city limits. It’s even inside New Circle Road. Architecturally, the place is fascinating if for no other reason than the iterations it has gone through since the 1880’s. It was a hemp factory that burned, then built on to and turned into something else then something else, then the third story (evidence visible on the smokestack) was completely removed, turned into Dixieland Gardens, closed in 1943 or soon after then turned into a a machine shop, a sign shop, and who knows what else before sitting empty when Michael came along. A contractor by trade with a penchant for historic preservation and the heart of an artist, Michael thinks carefully about refurbishing a building, keeping the original intent and integrity in mind while turning it into something new (adaptive reuse). That’s one of the things I love about HP and this building in particular. He has already introduced artist studios into some of the space, with the remaining space – of which there is a lot – intended for multiple purposes like art shows or weddings. And he has a host of other incredible ideas as well. He’s a wonderful man with the right heart for this work and I was overjoyed to visit with him. I can’t wait to see it finished and I’m super excited to hear what more can be learned about the building’s history as well as the surrounding neighborhood. This is fascinating part of Lexington with untapped history.
september 1, 2021 – the outhouse: where art goes
[…] now called LuigART, was tonight’s first BGT deTour location on adaptive reuse. Remember these photos from August 3? Mike Satterly and his small crew worked wonders in a month’s time. Coincidentally, Reinette […]