Developers Plan to Restore McCollum Hall in Fort Myers

Alexander Goshen, collaborating with the City of Fort Myers and business leaders, plans to restore McCollum Hall on Martin Luther King Boulevard and revive a cornerstone of the Dunbar community. The community is hopeful Alexander Goshen, recently approved for the project, will restore McCollum Hall to its glory days. The hall was built in 1938 and hosted performances from legends like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington from the 1930s through the 1960s. It was a center of commerce, music and entertainment and one of the few places both Black and white residents went to for entertainment during segregation. Looking at it in 2022, though, you wouldn’t be able to tell. The developer’s proposal includes developing a 26-unit multi-family community and over 14,000 square feet of commercial retail space at the existing McCollum Hall and the properties next to it. It’s taken a while for city leaders to find a new developer, as the project will be an expensive one, and neighbors are happy that one of their favorite places from the past may soon be a part of the city’s future.

View Thirty8 Collective & Thirty8 Flats >>