Celebrating 120 years of one of McCloud’s historic buildings, Kristin Cunningham, owner of the McCloud Dance Hall, held a formal dinner and dance on May 2nd which drew people from over 200 miles away who had ties through the years to the old building’s storied legacy. After the buffet, people were more than ready to enjoy dancing to the Vintage Jazz Sextet band from Redding that filled the huge open dance floor with the best music to dance the night away.
Just like in the old days, people came dressed up in classic vintage attire for a night out at the McCloud Dance Hall to have fun while helping support the upkeep and restoration of the iconic old building.
Dave and Suzanne Abbott, who bought the building 29 years ago and transformed it into the dance hall it is today, were the guests of honor.
Built in 1906, the old building began as an opera house and social hub for the McCloud River Lumber Mill which owned the town at the time. It was later purchased by the Freemasons around 1914–1920, and they expanded it to include a second floor. During WW2, the Red Cross used the building. Later, it became the union hall and then the school gym before the Abbotts purchased it and named the old building at 104 Pine Street, Dance Country, where it grew into the hot spot and big draw for square, round, and ballroom dancing for 25 years.
But after 120 years of events and a lot of dancing, the building needs significant restoration and upgrades. Some of the work planned is on the foundation, plumbing and electrical, a tree that needs removal from the deck, replacing parts of the roof and gutters, and more — adding up to an estimate of $700,000. Cunningham has already had the original 5,000-square-foot maple floors upgraded.
Of course, being a fundraiser, there were raffles and auctions. Many people in the community stepped up to help. The dessert auction featured mostly cakes made by local artists who called themselves chefs because they looked more like art pieces than something sweet to eat. Long tables held gift baskets and other fancy items donated from locals and commercial businesses alike who wanted to help support this event.
Cunningham calls her volunteers “Team Dancehall.” She helps support McCloud by hosting events like roller-skating a few nights a month and opening up the Dance Hall for community events: the McCloud Flea Market in June, the Lumberjack Fiesta Festival in July, the Show and Shine Car Show and Motor the Mountain Car Show, both in August, the Apple Harvest Festival and McCloud Halloween Festivities in October, and all the Christmas festivities in December.
To help support this historic building remain a relevant part of McCloud activities, donate to the gofund.me campaign: “Urgent: Repair McCloud Dance Hall.” The Dance Hall is an important piece of McCloud history.
McCloud Dance Hall is fiscally sponsored by the Siskiyou County Art Council. If you’d like your donation to be tax deductible, please donate here: https://siskiyouarts.org/ (10% of your donation will go to support the arts in Siskiyou County, 90% goes to the roof!)
Event sponsors include Roseburg lumber company, Dave Freda Enterprise, Floyd and Donna Jones, the Pizza Factory in Shasta Lake, big O tires in Redding, professional exterminators in Redding, Kevin and Debbie Meyers in Sacramento.
