Media Release

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - Tonight, Friday February 26, 2010 at 7 p.m. on Community 12 TV, Alachua County presents "The Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center."  This 30 minute program explores the history of the Alachua County segregation-era black music venue located in Gainesville's Springhill neighborhood, and offers an in depth look at ongoing efforts to refurbish the building as an area black history museum and cultural center.

The program traces the Cotton Club building from its beginnings as a PX store at Camp Blanding in Starke, Florida during World War II to its post war years as a movie theater for African Americans, to its memorable run as a concert hall hosting world famous musicians including Ray Charles, B.B. King, James Brown and more.

Interviews include Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center board Chair Vivian Filer, Co-chair Otis Stover, former Alachua County Commissioner, and Cotton Club patron Thomas Coward, University of Florida Director of the Powell Center for Construction and Environment Director Dr. Charles Kibbert and many others involved with the project.

This special program will replace County Update for the month of February.  It will air at 7 p.m. every night but Thursday and at 7 a.m. and midnight every day.  Special or regular meetings, or other programming may preempt some showings.

To view "The Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center" immediately on Video on Demand, click here.

For more information, call the Alachua County Communications Office at 352-374-5226.