A promoter from Florida wants to hold concerts to raise money for improvements in Baptist Town.
Brian Paul of Hallandale Beach, Fla., is president and chief executive officer of ABBA International Entertainment Inc. and has been a concert promoter for 20 years. Since August 2008, he has owned four dilapidated houses in Baptist Town.
“It is my intention to develop the properties into much-needed housing for that area,” Paul said.
Paul appeared before the Greenwood City Council on Tuesday to discuss his plans for a Sept. 3 show in Whittington Park featuring artists from the 1950s and 1960s. He hopes it will be the first of several concerts.
On Thursday, the plan was beginning to take shape. Paul said he met with city officials to go over requirements for use of the park such as liability insurance, security, electrical use and post-concert cleanup.
Paul said that when he started as a property owner, he knew nothing about Baptist Town’s blues legacy, which includes ties to artists such as Robert Johnson and Honeyboy Edwards.
He said the previous owner of the properties contacted him about two years ago saying he was “having some difficulties” and asked for help. Specifically the man couldn’t pay the outstanding taxes on the properties, he said.
Shortly afterward, Paul became the owner of four occupied houses and two decaying ones.
The latter two — at 401 Ave. A and at 415 Ave. A — have been torn down, and the lots have been cleared. The other properties are in Walker’s Alley.
Paul said the existing houses are in deplorable condition.
“If you go inside the places, you’ll probably want to throw up,” he said.
Still, to those who live there, Baptist Town is home, he said.
“The people that live in those houses, they’ve been here for 50 years, so they aren’t going to move so quick,” Paul said. “They don’t want to move. They’ve got no place to go.”
He wants to move the three “sweet ladies” who are his tenants to cabins located at 401 Ave. A.
Paul, who also owns property on Longino Street, says he intends to demolish the homes and construct new ones. He told the council his existing tenants could return to the new homes if they wished.
To raise the needed capital, Paul thought of the concert — with 100 percent of the profits going to the project.
He said he hoped to raise $500,000 from a single show.
Paul is under a tight deadline, and, he said he has not booked a single musical act for the upcoming concert. He is busy trying to line up sponsors.
“I want to turn this negative into a positive,” Paul said. “Sometimes, you’ve just got to do something not for the money. You do it because it’s the right thing to do.”
• Contact Bob Darden at bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
