Today at a Downtown Tampa Community Redevelopment Area meeting, members of the Jackson House Foundation said that obstacles won't stand in the way of restoring the historic house.
Located just a block away from Tampa's historic Union Station, the Jackson House, built in 1901 by Moses Jackson, stands in shambles and needs major renovations to survive.
The historic rooming house sheltered Black visitors, including famous names like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who weren’t allowed to stay in other hotels due to segregation. The building—located at 851 E Zack St.—has lacked necessary repairs and could fall apart on its own if something isn’t done soon to restore it.
Safety was a point of concern for the Buckhorn administration in 2014 as different community groups tried to preserve the house. "At the end of the day this is a building that needs to be saved and thanks to the new not for profit that has been set up to do that and the generosity of people like Jeff Vinik I believe it will be,” Buckhorn told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay after yesterday's CRA meeting.
The most recent challenge for restoration comes mainly from needing more space to rebuild, which a property easement would provide. But the easement has to be allowed by 717 Parking, controlled by Jason and John Accardi, who own the parking lots surrounding Jackson House.
The Tampa Bay Times reported last month that after a year of negotiations, the Accardi brothers denied the foundation a 10-foot easement to meet fire code requirements for the rebuild. At the same time, the Accardi brothers said they understood the historical importance of the house, but refused monetary and trade offers from the foundation.
Today, Jackson House Foundation Chair Carolyn Collins told the CRA that the house will be renovated one way or another.
"It will be rebuilt," Collins said. “We are ready to move forward with the process and with the grant we have from the State of Florida.”
The foundation has $3 million dollars in funding commitments to rebuild the house, but without the easement, the rebuild will cost more. Exact numbers are uncertain, but representatives from the Tampa Bay History Center estimate it could cost around $4 million. City staff said it could cost more.
About the easement that the Accardis are refusing, Collins said, “It would accomplish so much and would only have to sacrifice a few parking spaces.”
Nevertheless, Collins and the Tampa Bay History Center said that the rebuild will go on.
Councilman Bill Carlson said that he has advocated for the Jackson House since 2013. He motioned to have the property discussed at the meeting and said that the CRA, which has already allocated $1 million to the restoration of the house for 2023, has the special ability to help with the rebuild outside of the city budget.
“The CRA board [membership] is the same as city council but it's a totally separate entity that stands alone from the city and we have the resources to be able to help the Jackson house,” Carlson said. “So we can work through these issues.”
Carlson explained that what he’d like to see happen soon is a partnership with CRA, the foundation and the Tampa Bay History Center to address Jackson House’s most immediate structural needs. From there, he’d like to see a full renovation and restoration.
C.J. Roberts, President and CEO of Tampa Bay History Center, said that the museum has partnered with the foundation and University of South Florida to place internal bracing that holds the building up currently, and that they have established a security fence around the perimeter of property. Roberts told the CRA that USF has also digitally documented the contents of the house, so the contents can be accurately installed in the event of renovations.
"The building is very vulnerable and time is certainly not on our side."
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“But as we've all pointed out, the building is very vulnerable and time is certainly not on our side,” Roberts said.
The vision for the Jackson house is to restore it as a historic house, as well as an African American History Museum, Roberts said. He told the CRA that keeping the house in its exact spot is important because it is “one of the last vestiges of what was once a very vibrant African American neighborhood and there's nothing left, and so telling that story is key.”
But it may be a challenge to restore the building if the Accardis are unwilling to negotiate.
Councilman Guido Maniscalco asked if eminent domain could be used to procure the land necessary for the easement. City attorney Morris Massey, who is sitting in for city council attorney Martin Shelby in his absence, said that eminent domain was not an option for the CRA.
But he said there are avenues to explore that could help with the restoration of the house, and that the options under city council are more expansive than the CRA. The city would, however, have to own the property first to consider eminent domain, and currently the property belongs to the Jackson House Foundation.
Tampa’s Director of Economic Development Nicole Travis—who thinks the renovation will cost more than the projected $4 million—told the CRA that she could return in November with a report on what other funds might be available for a negotiation with the Accardi brothers over the easement.
But the CRA also wants 30% of its funding to go to affordable housing next year, so her department would have to figure out how much money is available.
“I can also take a look and see what money is available in downtown, outside of [previous] commitments that could presumably be used to further support the Jackson House,” she said.
UPDATED: 09/09/22 11 a.m. A previous version of this article said Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn called for the destruction of the house. This post has been updated with comment from him.
