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Contests will seek poster, name for planned museum
By JANEL STEPHENS ST. PETERSBURG -- The light gray-green building on Ninth Avenue S is boarded and vacant. Soon, it will be rich with African-American history. City leaders plan on transforming the 3,943 square-foot building in Jordan Park into an African-American museum with rotating exhibits and displays. "We were trying to figure out what to do with the property that is a gateway to the (Jordan Park) community," said Darrell Irions. He is the executive director of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority and has spearheaded the project. A core group of individuals, including Deputy Mayor Goliath Davis, Midtown economic specialist Leontyne Middleton and Juvenile Welfare Board community planner Paul Lackey, met last year to figure out what to do with the building, which served as a community center and management office for Jordan Park. "We decided an African-American museum would really enhance the community," Irions said. The group, along with other community members, met with Christine Miller-Betts, executive director of the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History in Augusta, Ga., to brainstorm ideas on exhibits and displays. Irions said the museum most likely will have rotating exhibits of blacks in sports, music, education and performing arts. There will be photographs and artists renderings of old Jordan Park. Irions hopes community members will donate items for display. The public housing complex was developed in 1941 with land donated by St. Petersburg native Elder Jordan, who also built the Manhattan Casino. Construction is complete on the new Jordan Park, 237 single- and multifamily units. About 99 percent of them have been leased, with a backlog of 1,700 families waiting to move in, Irions said. A total $358,500 -- money from the Hope VI project, which rebuilt Jordan Park -- has been set aside to remodel the building and pay contractors and architects, according to Eric Brown, director of planning and development for the St. Petersburg Housing Authority. The building should be completed in July or August and the museum is expected to open in September, Irions said. The Rosier Alliance Inc. of St. Petersburg is architect of the museum. Officials say the museum adds another component to the restoration of a corridor once a business and cultural cornerstone for African-Americans in St. Petersburg. The corridor is anchored on the north by the St. Petersburg Clay Co., the old railroad depot at 420 22nd St. S, and by Perkins Elementary Center for the Arts & International Studies on the south. A community forum will be scheduled for residents who would like to have some input on the museum. Museum needs nameYouths are asked to create a name for the museum and design a poster describing the chosen name. Projects can be individual or a team effort and must be submitted on a 22- by 28-inch poster. The poster should include contact information and a one-page explanation of why the name was chosen. The entries can be dropped off at the main office of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority, 3250 Fifth Ave. N. Five finalists will be selected and asked to make a 2- to 5-minute presentation before the St. Petersburg Housing Board of Commissioners. Grand prize is $250. Deadline is March 28 at 5 p.m. Contact Syl Farrell at (727) 323-3171 ext. 342 for more information.
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