It's Time For Tampa To Have Site To Showcase Black History: Commission

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Tamps is one of the few metropolitan areas in the country without an African American museum or cultural center, noted Hillsborough County Commissioner Gwen Myers.

When she was campaigning for a seat on the commission in 2020, she said it was one of her goals to remedy this oversight.

A West Tampa native and only Black county commissioner, Myers brought up the subject at a county commission meeting in April, suggesting that the county raze the outdated West Tampa Community Resource Center at 2103 N Rome Ave. and use the site for an African American Arts and Cultural Center.

"When I was campaigning, one of the things that kept coming to mind was an African American museum, something we didn't have," said Myers. "We don't really have a place today to tell the story of the rich history of African Americans who paved the way in West Tampa."

She said the state has already pledged $1 million to fund the design and she's spoken to a number of businesses involved in the redevelopment of West Tampa that are willing to kick in funds. If the county broke ground next year, it could have a flourishing center by 2025, Myers said.

She noted that the center would become part of the Tampa Riverwalk which is being extended into West Tampa to connect with the Rome Yard, an 18-acre $300 million mixed-used redevelopment joint project of the Tampa Housing Authority, the city of Tampa and Related Urban Development Group.

"Right now, West Tampa is being transformed," she said. "This is the perfect time to build a new African American Art and Culture Center."

Her idea spread like wildfire. At a crowded county commission meeting in June, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and state Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, urged the commission to support Myers' proposal.

“It’s particularly critical that now we should be inclusive of our recognition of the historical significance of African Americans in Hillsborough County and Tampa,” said Rouson, noting that the state has matching grants available for African American museums.

The commission voted unanimously to allocate $500,000 over the next two years for planning and designing the site on the 6-acre property.

Now residents will get a chance to provide feedback on those design plans and what should be included in the art and culture center during a series of public meetings set for:

• Monday, Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m. at C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library 2607 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Tampa.
• Monday, Oct. 30, at 6:30 p.m. at the Emanuel P. Johnson Recreation Center 5725 S. 78th St., Tampa.
• Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 6:30 p.m. at the West Tampa Community Resource Center 2103 N. Rome Ave., Tampa.

Hillsborough County Facilities Management & Real Estate Services staff will be available to answer questions, and residents can see visual representations of what the center will look like. Residents can also provide input through the county’s engagement and education hub from Oct. 23 to Nov. 8.

Plans call for the construction of a new 50,000-square-foot building consisting of public experience spaces, meeting spaces, galleries, labs, studios, event spaces, retail and a café.

Outside, the center will feature an amphitheater, lawn space, sculptures, a ribbon trail and multi-use gathering spaces.

The design phase is currently underway and construction is partially funded. The facility is estimated to cost $30 million.

Currently, the closest thing Tampa has the a museum of Black history is the Robert W. Saunders Sr. Public Library at 1505 N. Nebraska Ave., located in the historic Black neighborhood of Central Avenue and renamed in honor of Saunders, a Tampa civil rights activist NAACP director from 1952 to 1965, who worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The library contains the county's African American History & Genealogy Library with the only African American-focused genealogy reference collection in Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Libraries; a collection of books on all facets of African American life, history and culture with a focus on Hillsborough County; a display of authentic African art and an archives room with historic Black memorabilia.