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VISIONARY ACHIEVEMENT IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD HOUSTON PAPERCITY DESIGN AWARDS P aperCity awards its Visionary Achievement in Historic Preservation Award to Project Row Houses and David Bucek, Stern and Bucek Architects for the restoration of the Eldorado Ballroom in Houston's Third Ward. The fabled Eldorado Ballroom opened on December 5, 1939, at the corner of Elgin and Dowling (now Emancipation Street) — a rare work of surviving Streamlined Moderne architecture commissioned by Black philanthropists and business owners Anna Johnson Dupree and Clarence Dupree. The ballroom was designed by architect Lenard Gabert Sr., a graduate of Rice University's inaugural class of 1916. Gabert's other prominent Houston buildings include Temple Emanu El (1949, with MacKie and Kamrath), Beth Yeshurun Synagogue (1962), and Brochsteins Deco-style custom- woodworking plant (1940). The Rado — as the ballroom was known — became a fabled stop for performers on the Chitlin' Circuit, where celebrated touring acts from Duke Ellington Orchestra and Count Basie to Etta James, James Brown, Dinah Washington, and Ray Charles played to enthusiastic, sophisticated audiences. Performers such as Big Mama Thornton — whose "Hound Dog" was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1956 — were discovered at the Eldorado, as were Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Blues Smithsonian Hall of Fame inductee Jewel Brown, and tenor-sax king Arnett Cobb. Project Row Houses — celebrating its 30th anniversary, co-founded by MacArthur Genius Fellow Rick Lowe — acquired the Eldorado Ballroom in 1999 and a decade ago began a conversation about restoring this iconic place in American music history and the cultural life of the Third Ward. Anita Smith and Hasty Johnson stepped up as capital campaign chairs, raising $9.7 million — including a $4 million gift from the Kinder Foundation — for the Eldorado's next chapter, which began with its reopening to great fanfare on March 30, 2023. Credit is also due to Bert Brown and George Lancaster at Hines. Architect David Bucek, whose firm Stern and Bucek Architects was brought on in 2012, says: "The restoration's successes include finding much of the historic vertical wood paneling and fluted pilasters intact, covered over with drywall, in the ballroom entry stair hall and the downstairs shops. Given that the ballroom experienced two major fires, finding large areas of original wood elements wasn't expected." Today, chef Chris Williams, a two-time James Beard finalist, operates the Eldorado complex, which includes Rado Market, the storied second-floor ballroom, and Hogan Brown Gallery, directed by artist Robert Hodge — destinations for Southern cuisine, musical performances, cultural events, and art openings. The Visionary Achievement in Historic Preservation Award was presented to Project Row Houses and David Bucek by John Guess Jr. — collector, patron, CEO of the Houston Museum of African American Culture, and the negotiator of the 1999 acquisition from previous owner Hubert "Hub" Finkelstein, which added the Eldorado Ballroom to the Project Row Houses campus. The 84-year-old restored Eldorado Ballroom is now a City of Houston Protected Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. FRIEDA ALLEN COLLECTION PÄR BENGTSSON STERN AND BUCEK ARCHITECTS HOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY Eldorado Ballroom, corner of Elgin and Emancipation Streets, 1948 Eldorado's neon sign restored Pluma Davis Orchestra, 1952 Eldorado Ballroom after its $9.7 million restoration, 2023