Apollo Theater Plans Harlem 'Walk of Fame'

Harlem residents who can remember the days when artists from James Brown to the Jackson 5 performed at the Apollo Theater might be able to take a literal walk down memory lane.
The Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc.—located on 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard and Frederick Douglass Boulevard—submitted a proposal to Community Board 10 in January to create a Walk of Fame on 125th Street as part of the theater’s 75th anniversary this year. The walk would include names of famous performers who graced the Apollo stage for people to reminisce over as they walk, according to Curtis Still, chair of the transportation committee for CB10.

“They wanted to honor an image of the Apollo and its historical significance regarding music and entertainment,” Still said. The Walk of Fame would enhance the iconic legacy of the Apollo and echo the monuments that commemorate celebrities in Hollywood.

In addition, Still said that creating a Walk of Fame would provoke dialogue about who the Apollo performers were and what they did.

“It creates a conversation piece, and it’s also a tribute to these people who entertained at the Apollo going back many years,” Still said.

Andrew Dolkart, James Marston Fitch Associate Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia, said that the Apollo’s Walk of Fame would be “an extension of their historic role because their significance is in African-American entertainment.”

But speaking about the project’s impact on the surrounding neighborhood, Dolkart said that the Walk of Fame would be a “tourist thing” that would not have a significant impact on community preservation.

“It’s great to recognize important people,” he said of the Apollo. “That’s what its history is all about.”

The walk would help preserve the legacies of performers who were key in Apollo’s development as a cultural landmark—artists including Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, who launched their careers as contestants in the theater’s famous amateur night.

Currently, the idea for the walk is still in the proposal stage. Jonelle Procope, president and chief executive officer of the Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc. presented the plan to CB10, whose votes will only serve an advisory purpose. The foundation will still have to take its proposal to the city planning committee of CB10 in order to do work on the sidewalks. Then work can begin, Still said, though it is unclear how long such work will take.

Still emphasized how valuable the Walk of Fame will be for Harlem. “It would help the community establish its image as a historic area,” he said.
Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc., did not respond to repeated press inquiries over the past two weeks.

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