A new vision for the National Juneteenth Museum could soon take shape in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside. NBC 5 gets an exclusive look at the plans ahead of a key City Council vote.
NBC 5 is getting an exclusive look at plans for the future National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth.
On Tuesday, the Fort Worth City Council will vote on whether to approve the use of the proposed land for the museum, which would be located at the corner of New York Avenue and Rosedale Street.
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Advocates said the museum will be a game-changer for the Historic Southside neighborhood and make the area a national travel destination.
Since 2019, organizers have been working to create the center, a museum devoted to the history and lasting influence of June 19, 1865—the day the last enslaved people in the U.S. were freed in Texas.
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Thanks to advocates like Fort Worth’s Opal Lee, Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.
“It’s because of her that we’re able to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday on a national scale,” said Dr. Angela Mitchell, board chair for the National Juneteenth Museum. “And so to be able to now have a place, a hub, a cultural center where everything Juneteenth, everything freedom, is going to be right here in the city of Fort Worth, it’s an amazing opportunity for us.”
The plan is for the building to feature a museum, an incubator for small businesses, and a theater for stage shows.
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The latest design draws heavily from the Juneteenth flag and the shotgun houses that make up the Historic Southside.
“There’s just been a lot of intentionality that has gone into the architecture and gone into the design,” Mitchell said. “And I think it’s a beautiful thing.”
On Tuesday, Fort Worth leaders will vote on whether to demolish the Southside Community Center and clear the way for the National Juneteenth Museum to be built in its place.
Leaders of the museum project said the center would help turn the Historic Southside from an area left behind into a beacon of progress and opportunity.
“To see it actually take shape is going to be amazing,” Mitchell said. “And to know that this is in my city, there are no words for that.”
There is no final date yet for when the museum will be completed. City leaders have indicated that a plan is in the works to move the Southside Community Center’s services to the Hazel Harvey Peace Center, less than a half-mile away.
