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Plans underway to revive Tampa's Central Avenue, could help with affordable housing

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Published  September 13, 2024 3:52pm EDT
Tampa
FOX 13 News

Tampa Central Park redevelopment in the works

Lloyd Sowers reports

TAMPA, Fla. - Several nights of rioting in the summer of 1967 rocked Tampa after a white police officer killed an unarmed Black suspect. Tampa's Central Avenue, the heart of the Black business district, never recovered. 

"Everything that was important to the Black community was there," said Fred Hearns, the curator of Black history at the Tampa Bay History Center. "If it wasn't located on Central Avenue, it was nearby."

Now, plans are underway to revive the area, which is southeast of the interstate, with more affordable housing within walking distance of downtown.

READ: Nearly a third of homeowners say they are ‘house poor’ in new survey

"You can't get a job, come down and park, by the time you leave your take home is zero," said Tampa City Council Member Charlie Miranda. 

The new mixed income neighborhood called Encore is being built where the old Central Park Housing Projects once stood. FDOT has plans to modify the interstate, which cut off streets and divided historic neighborhoods years ago.

"Back after World War II, we wanted to modernize," said Tampa City Council Member Guido Maniscalco. "Now, we're going back to what it used to be. I think we realized we did it right the first time."

The Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency, which is made up of city council members, is now making plans to revive more of the Central Park area. New affordable housing is one of their chief goals. 

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