Louis Armstrong Museum To Get $1.9M Renovation

CORONA, NY – The home of Louis Armstrong's next door neighbor and friend is to be renovated with $1.9 million of city cash. The project will be part of an expansion of the Louis Armstrong House Museum, a cultural center in the Corona, Queens, neighborhood the musical great called home for several years.

"Selma's House" was the home of Selma Heraldo, who lived next to Louis and his wife Lucille Armstrong. The funding was allocated by Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Councilman Francisco Moya.

After her death in 2o11, Heraldo left the home where she was born and lived her whole life to the Queens College Special Projects Fund in order to aid in expanding the museum’s complex.

The museum intends to get the house designated a National and NYC Landmark once the renovation ends.

The Louis Armstrong House Museum on 107th Street was home to the couple from 1943 until the musician's death in 1971. It will also get an additional $100,000 to buy a baby grand piano for jazz club space that is currently under construction.

The museum announced that the historic character of Selma’s House will be maintained. It will add office and storage space and the kitchen will be used for professional catering events.

“Louis Armstrong was one of the greatest artists in any medium of his era and one of the greatest musicians of all time,” City Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl said.

“During the many years he made his home in Corona, Queens, Louis and his wife Lucille Armstrong’s open and inviting community spirit was known throughout the neighborhood. With this funding for the renovation of ‘Selma’s House,’ the City is helping to build a new cultural campus in the heart of Queens,” Finkelpearl added.

B.J. Adler, the interim director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum, said, “Louis Armstrong once said, ‘We’ll be around when the others will be forgotten’ and thanks to New York City, Pop’s beloved neighborhood in Corona will be a vibrant community center that will continue to attract visitors from all over the world to be delighted and inspired by his musical genius and humanitarian legacy.”

Caption: Louis Armstrong. Photo by William Gottlieb/Redferns. Courtesy of Getty Images