For the better part of 40 years, the darkened doorways of Washington’s once-electric Howard Theatre were only a depressing reminder of just how far it had fallen since it was at the center of what used to be known as D.C.’s Black Broadway.
But on Monday, the historic landmark is scheduled to open its doors once again after a $29 million renovation project has modernized the inside and restored its exterior to the gleaming, original 1910 facade. A grand opening gala is scheduled for Thursday and the upcoming calendar features a sampling of black performers ranging from Wanda Sykes to Chuck Berry to the Harlem Gospel Choir.
For those who remember seeing artists like Patti LaBelle, the Supremes or Marvin Gaye in the 1960s, the landmark’s rebirth is a thing of pride.
| Grand opening gala headliners |
| > Performers scheduled to appear on Thursday include: Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy (honoree), Wanda Sykes, Raheem DeVaughn, Les McCann, Dianne Reeves, Bobby Parker and Fre’de’ric Yonnet. |
“It makes you feel good,” said Furman Marshall, a D.C. native taking pictures on Friday outside the theatre with longtime friend Richard McDonald.
“This place used to be like a small Hollywood,” Marshall continued. “People would be lined around the block for every show.”
But the former center of black art and culture in Northwest Washington was decimated by the 1968 riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. — 44 years ago last week. Although the theater itself wasn’t damaged, the surrounding area and Seventh Street corridor was largely destroyed by fire.
It would take decades for the neighborhood to turn around.
The theater closed in 1970. It reopened four years later and for a time it enjoyed a revival during the height of D.C.’s go-go boom. But money ran out and the theater was dark again by 1980.
McDonald, who moved to Washington in the 1980s, remembers when drug dealers would hang out on the corner of T and Seventh streets, a half-block away from the theater.
“They don’t like to stick around when things get cleaned up,” he said.
The revitalization of the Seventh Street corridor that began in the ’90s started hitting the Shaw neighborhood in the next decade. The District tapped Ellis Development Group in 2006 to restore the city-owned property and after financing struggles, the project broke ground in 2010.
“You can’t overstate the importance of what this represents for our African-American community,” said Councilman Jim Graham, who represents the ward in which the theater is located.
The development group’s Chip Ellis said he has experienced an “overwhelmingly joyous” reaction from residents. Last week as construction workers put the finishing touches on the project, local residents stopped to watch and take pictures.
“Just seeing them go up and down the street and talk about it amongst themselves and saying, ‘I’m gonna be there — I’m going,'” Ellis said. “It’s incredible.”
