Historic Leonard Reid home to become arts, cultural and history center in Sarasota
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Leonard Reid house now off Martin Luther King Junior Way is a piece of history and the city of Sarasota is turning it into a place to learn about arts, culture and history.
"This building is so very important because you have to understand Newtown and Overtown’s history was available only in fragments for a time. You’d see a sentence in a book or a paragraph, a photo with a cutline, but not much more than that. Until the city’s history project was birthed," explained Vickie Oldham, president of the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition.
The Reid home dates back to Overtown, the area's first black community.
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Reid and his family were pioneers in the area, working to help educate and support others.
Reid and his family were pioneers in the area, working to help educate and support others.
The home was moved last May from the Rosemary District to a city-owned lot in Newtown. It will soon be transformed to become an arts, cultural and history center.
The home could be open by the end of spring. There are already 46 arts and cultural organizations from within the city that has signed up to do programming.
The home could be open by the end of spring
"We want to share performances with the public, spoken word, concerts, even teach children in this community violin lessons," said Oldham.
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The city of Sarasota is working to install a parking lot, along with driveways, sidewalks and curbs.
The historic Leonard Reid home is going to become an arts, cultural and history center.
"It's especially exciting working on a project like this that directly celebrates the history and the culture of our community and also involves our neighborhood and our residents," stated Camden Mills, the capital project's manager.
The Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition will oversee operations and hopes the history of the area and those who paved the way for others will never be forgotten.
The city of Sarasota is working to install a parking lot, along with driveways, sidewalks and curbs.
"We’ve got a treasure trove of information and resources and archival photographs and artifacts to be able to present that to the public, a history that is little known. It will be amazing," explained Oldham.
LINK: Click here to learn more about the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition.