Step down into history, down into Club Royale during the 1920s.
Dance with bootleggers, socialites, and musicians in an all-night jam session.
Be a Part of Our Shared Narrative
Help us to restore and preserve the Club Royale Murals
Prohibition era Art Deco murals have been uncovered during the renovation work at the Louisa Hotel. This is the only known historic jazz club with the original murals intact remaining in Seattle. These murals are old but it's beauty is still evident.
The project team donated their time and worked hard to come up with a plan to save these murals from demolition. They are about 100 years old and are now in dire need of preservation. In some places the paint is peeling and the plaster is crumbling.
The murals have sustained water damage from firefighting efforts from a devastating fire on Christmas Eve 2013 that led to the demolition of half the building on Christmas Eve 2013. Plaster is falling and paint is bubbling and peeling. The vibration of drilling work in the basement has hastened the effects of it's damage.
If we don’t restore the murals, they will disappear, and we will have lost an important part of Seattle’s history.
We need the funds immediately to stabilize the plaster and adhere the peeling paint to the walls. We have identified a conservator highly recommended by the Seattle Art Museum. He would be able to start as funds are available.
There are very few public exhibits that tie the community to their past in Chinatown. People have no idea the history that this neighborhood holds.
We want to save, preserve and restore the murals before sharing them with the public. We will install a glass door to the entrance of the stairwell. People walking by will be able to see the murals from the sidewalk and learn about Chinatown's jazz history.
Our goal is to raise about $180,000 to fund the preservation and restoration of the stairway murals via grants and fundraising. The expenses not only includes the cost of preservation and restoration but also illuminating and protecting the entrance so that the murals are viewable by the public. It also includes the cost of establishing another exit in the alley which stops the murals from being demolished and used as the exit.
We invite you to be a part of this narrative. Please help us fund the preservation work to save these murals and save a rare piece of Seattle’s history. This is our shared narrative and we can not let this part of history disappear.
SCIDPDA is our fiscal agent:
DONATE VIA SCIDPDA 501(c)(3)
- Eligible for workplace match programs
- Tax deductible
IMPORTANT: Please follow these instructions to ensure that your donation will go directly to the murals.
In "Fund" please select "Restoring 1930's Jazz Murals at the Louisa Hotel"
If you wish to stay anonymous, please indicate that in the "Additional Comments"
All photography provided by Randy Wo-Eng