Hillsborough County announces plans for new Tampa Bay African American Arts and Cultural Center

TAMPA, Fla. - On a day dedicated to celebrating Black history, Hillsborough County announced the future of those celebrations will soon be enhanced.

"It is time for us to come together, as people, to address social issues, injustice," said Commissioner Gwen Myers.

Myers announced the county building on N. Rome Ave. in West Tampa will be raised, and the Tampa Bay African American Arts and Cultural Center will rise in its place.

It'll have 50,000 sq. ft. of exhibits, performance spaces, studios, classrooms, and a place for the community to gather.

"Being able to have an anchor, for the community to come and engage and have meetings," said Myers. "This sets the tone that we can work together, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or independent."

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Les Miller has long fought for Civil Rights in Tampa, including for the removal of a Confederate monument from county property.

Florida wrote segregation into its constitution in the 1880s and has seen racially charged riots occur throughout the second half of the 20th Century, including at College Hill and South St. Pete.

Numerous Black cemeteries have recently been discovered, covered over by those who preferred to forget them.

Tampa has also been a center of activism over voting rights and equal opportunities for housing.

"This will be a tribute to what Hillsborough County has come through,"said, Miller. "All the ups and downs. All the racial strife. We are coming together to give Black history a place it should have."

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The project recently got a $5 million boost from the state for the plan to break ground in 2024 and cut the ribbon on the new center by 2026.

"We are all human beings. We have the same red blood running in our veins," said Miller. "We all love one another. If we don't love one another, we are all going to fail."

A museum to Black history is something previous generations, white or black, might never have imagined.

The site will be at 2103 N. Rome Ave., which has been the top choice of the commission since 2021.