From the 1930s through the 70s, Black elders remember the Sunset Lounge in West Palm’s Historic Northwest District as a place where jazz legends performed — Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, to name a few. And now the cultural gem has reopened after sitting idle for nearly two years.
It’s pure “nostalgia,” said Gregory Dillard, a West Palm Beach-based cinematographer and director, who was among the locals who grew up experiencing its history in different eras.
“What’s great for me to see is some of the people that are older than me or that are my age, that used to come here all the time.” Dillard said. “And to see the expression on their face, how they’re really surprised to see the renovations that are taking place here.”
Grammy-nominated saxophonist Boney James serenaded nearly 500 guests at the Soul in the City grand opening of the Sunset Lounge last month. The legendary venue will host the second concert in the series in late December for those wanting to check out the new space.
The renovated venue, on the corner of Eighth Street and Henrietta Avenue, just west of Rosemary and north of downtown West Palm Beach, now offers a two-story, 7,200-square-foot space with a restaurant, bar and rooftop — while also reserving history for a future generation, said Christopher Roog of the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency.
“You can live it and experience it,” Roog told WLRN. “And that just makes the historical preservation all that more important and all that more exciting.”