Fort Worth City Council Pledges $15 Million to National Juneteenth Museum Project

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The Fort Worth City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution pledging $15 million to the development of the National Juneteenth Museum in the city’s Historic Southside neighborhood.

The contribution will only be made once the balance of the $70 million project is raised.

Architectural renderings of the National Juneteenth Museum show a building with a dramatic roofline that reflects the gables of the shotgun-style homes in the Historic Southside neighborhood where it will be located.

The building’s design, and that of three adjacent residential buildings in the development planned for the Evans and Rosedale corridor, was unveiled during a recent City Council work session.

“Literally and figuratively, it was designed to be a beacon of light in an area that has been dark for a very long time,” said Jarred Howard, principal with Sable Brands, and the project’s developer. “It’s time for the revitalization of the Historic Southside. Our hope is that the city will embrace it.”

The national museum will complement those in the Cultural District and become a global tourist destination, he said.

The museum was designed by the New York office of Denmark-based Bjarke Ingels Group, said Howard, who grew up in Fort Worth’s Stop Six neighborhood. It is the same firm that designed Google’s Northern California headquarters.

The design also draws on the design of the Juneteenth Star featured on the official Juneteenth flag, Howard said.

In the making for several years, the project was formally announced in December 2021. The museum will be on the second level of a two-story building. The lower level will feature a restaurant, business incubator, 250-seat amphitheater and storefronts. The three adjacent residential buildings will have 55 residences.

Construction could begin by year’s end or in the first quarter of 2023. A grand opening is planned for mid-2025.

Fort Worth resident and activist Opal Lee was the driving force behind the Juneteenth federal holiday adopted in 2021. Juneteenth had been celebrated as a state holiday since 1980, commemorating June 19, 1865, when Texas slaves were notified of their freedom through Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.