EATONVILLE, Fla. — A historic club in the town of Eatonville will soon undergo a major transformation.

Club Eaton, at Kennedy Boulevard and West Street, first opened in the late 1940s and hosted some well-known performers. 

It closed in 2008 and became dilapidated.

Now, with the help of what Eatonville Community Redevelopment Agency officials said is about $1 million of funding from the state Division of Historical Resources and $250,000 from the current property owner, Club Eaton will shine as it did in its heyday.  

“Over 30 years, over 30 since I’ve been in here and to come inside. If the walls could talk, there is so much history because people that came not only from the community but people from outside the community traveled here to see it,” Charles McKinney said. 

With each step he takes, McKinney is transported back in time to the 1950s, when he was a young boy watching from outside Club Eaton, listening to legends play on the stage. His mother worked part time at the club.

“During those days, there was no television advertising. Everything was posted on the telephone pole or at the business in the community, and you see the signs of Joe Simon, Bobby Bland, B.B. King, The '5' Royales,” he said.

That’s just to name a few. The only thing more exciting than reliving the past for McKinney is the coming renovation for the club — restoring it to its former glory.

“The owner has said he plans and wants to do something that will reflect back to those early years," McKinney said. "A little nostalgia and getting things organized so everybody can appreciate it.”

Eatonville Mayor Angie Gardner said the renovation is long overdue.

“We’ve been sitting here dormant for so many years, so as administrator of the town, I’m so pleased to know we are getting ready to shine again,” Gardner said. 

The Club Eaton project will be completed in four phases, with about $250,000 of state funds released at a time. 

“We are going to start with demoing out the whole building. Everything that is not structurally sound, we are going to take it out of the building," said Samuel Lee, an engineer working on the project. "The fact that I get to be part of revitalizing a building like this back, I can’t wait to be amazed at everything that is going to happen on the inside of this building.”

A building that has stood the test of time will have new meaning to a new generation, giving McKinney’s treasured walls new stories to tell.

Eatonville town leaders said they plan to have a grand reopening in the spring of next year.