City and museum officials stood in front of the Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum Tuesday to laud the first step in a process they hope will make the museum safe and sound.
Outlook on the museum’s future appeared gloomy in the wake of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority’s move to sell the building that houses it, which the authority owns and leases to the museum. News of the building’s potential sale sparked outrage in the community. City Council Chair Charlie Gerdes then proposed that the city buy the building from the housing authority, which Mayor Rick Kriseman said Tuesday is what he plans to do.
“This city has a keen interest on making sure it not only survives, but thrives,” Kriseman said. “Therefore, the city of St. Petersburg will take those steps necessary to pursue purchasing the building behind me.”
The announcement elicited cheering from the dozens of museum supporters who had gathered for the announcement. Activist Theresa “Momma Tee” Lassiter, who had supported Kriseman’s opponent in the 2013 mayoral election, loudly praised Kriseman (and Jesus) for saving the museum.
Kriseman said he and Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin met with the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provided the grant that bought the housing project within which the museum sits, and the department said the museum has to stay put.
“That is exactly what would happen should the city become the owner of this building,” Kriseman said.
The St. Petersburg Housing Authority board voted to sell the museum building because it is trying to divest itself from non-residential properties, and is focusing on projects like a housing complex for homeless veterans.
“Today the St. Petersburg Housing Authority’s mission is defined by new challenges and evolving priorities that lead it in a different direction,” Tomalin said, adding that the outpouring of support for the museum made it clear that city hall needed to do something about it.
“The community has spoken,” she said. “This museum is an indelible and non-negotiable thread in the cultural fabric of our community.”
The city now has to have the property appraised (housing authority director Darrell Irions said he has been told the value of the property is more than $600,000). Then the city and the housing authority will have to negotiate a fair price. After that, the city will need to negotiate a lease agreement with the museum’s board.
So, it won’t exactly be easy, but on Tuesday museum officials radiated optimism.
“This issue has been long and hard fought by a group of individuals within our city who believe in what this community-run facility represents,” said Terri Lipsey-Scott, chair of the museum’s board of directors. “We at the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum, we believe that in St. Petersburg, black lives matter. And that’s what black history is all about. Black lives.”
She thanked Irions, with whom she and the museum’s other supporters had been at odds in the wake of the HA board’s contentious decision to sell the building.
Irions said in addition to an evolving mission, his department has had a hard go of maintaining its finances; that in the last sequestration period they saw $2 million drop in funding. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want there to be a museum.
“Everybody in this community believes there needs to be an African American museum. Everybody. How we get there?” Irions said. “Our finances at the housing authority, they’re dwindling like any other federal entity or entity that’s receiving federal funds. Our income has dropped…dramatically.”
This article appears in Mar 5-11, 2015.
