A memorial honoring Gregg and Duane Allman is planned for the Daytona Beach boardwalk. The city has agreed to construct the memorial, and organizers say they have already raised about $70,000 toward a project they expect will ultimately cost between $225,000 and $250,000.
A Friendship That Started on the Halifax River
Leading the effort is Carl Persis, a 77-year-old Ormond Beach resident, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Gregg and Duane moved to Daytona Beach with their mother, Geraldine “Mama A” Allman, in 1959, according to a News-Journal report on Gregg Allman's death. The brothers spent their early years in Volusia County and attended Daytona's Seabreeze High School. Duane left school after the 10th grade, while Gregg graduated in 1965.
From the Escorts to Rock Hall of Fame
The brothers' first band, the Escorts, formed right there in Daytona Beach before disbanding and reemerging as the Allman Joys, the same News-Journal account notes. In 1969, Gregg and Duane formed the Allman Brothers Band, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, according to Gregg Allman's official legacy site. Duane never lived to see that recognition; he died following a motorcycle crash in October 1971 at age 24. Gregg died in May 2017 at age 69.
Persis is leading the push alongside the Halifax Humane Society and local residents.
Funding Still Short of the Goal
The city of Daytona Beach has pledged up to $4,000 toward the statue's concrete base, contingent on the memorial group raising enough money to move forward, the station's report notes. Organizers also plan to pursue grants as they work toward their overall funding target. A fundraiser tied to the project previously described a monument erected on the Daytona boardwalk near the bandshell, according to a GoFundMe campaign page for the effort, which had set a goal of unveiling the piece during Daytona's sesquicentennial celebration in the summer of 2026.
Same Sculptor Behind the City's Bethune Statue
Sculptor Nilda Comas is slated to create the Allman Brothers memorial, and the piece is planned in the same style as her earlier work honoring Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune at the Riverfront Esplanade on Beach Street. That statue is described as an original bronze work by Comas on the City of Daytona Beach's website, giving Daytona Beach residents a local point of comparison for what the Allman tribute might eventually look like once funding catches up to the vision.
