State funds allocated for Horton Legal Learning Center
May 15—CEOTA is getting a financial boost from the state for the Horton House and Legal Learning Center project that's part of the planned Civil Rights museum, officials said.
State Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, chairman of the Finance and Taxation Education committee, said CEOTA (Celebrating Old Town with Art) is getting $1.7 million as supplemental funding from the fiscal 2025 budget for capital needs on the Judge James E. Horton Jr. Legal Learning Center. This money will be available in July.
Orr also allocated $163,000 annually, starting with fiscal 2026 in October, in the state's general budget for three years to the nonprofit. He said the money will run through Alabama A&M's budget and fund operating expenses.
Orr said he included the state appropriations because he "sees this project as transformational for the Northwest Decatur area."
This is another major appropriation through the Alabama Historical Commission. In 2023, the Commission awarded a $272,000 grant through the Community Foundation of Greater Decatur for the CEOTA project.
CEOTA founder Frances Tate said Monday that she and the CEOTA board are "very pleased" with the latest appropriations.
Orr said he thinks the $1.7 million should be enough to finish the Ruby Bates Boarding House on Sycamore Street Northwest and the Horton House on Church Street Northwest.
"That will give them enough momentum to fundraise for the last building, which will be most expensive," Orr said, referring to a planned three-story structure for a museum.
Tate said the capital allocation will help "start the complex at the Judge Horton House." More private donations will be necessary to complete this portion of the project, she said.
Judge James Horton was the judge in the second trial of Haywood Patterson, one of the Scottsboro Boys defendants, in 1933. The trial was in Decatur.
Tate and the CEOTA group had Horton's 3,960-square-foot house moved in two sections from Greenbrier to Decatur in October 2023.
The move cost $1.44 million with Decatur paying $888,774 of the expense. State Rep. Parker Moore, R-Hartselle, obtained $200,000 in state funding for the move and the Limestone County Commission paid $56,000 for clearing the rights of way along Garrett Road.
The Morgan County Hospitality Association gave $250,000 and Decatur-Morgan Tourism added $50,000 to the move.
The Morgan County Commission donated the judge's bench in Courtroom 100 located in the Morgan County Courthouse to CEOTA for their museum. The bench was used by Horton during the Scottsboro Boys trial.
Tate said they're now determining how each of the rooms in the house will be used in the new center.
CEOTA recently acquired property next door, increasing its property to half of an acre, she said.
Tate said they're planning to add an annex to the Horton House. This would complete the ultimate goal of creating the Legal Learning Center in which college and universities would partner with CEOTA on curriculum.
Orr said CEOTA recently completed a memorandum of understanding with Samford University's Cumberland Law School, which was the judge's alma mater when the school was in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Cumberland is now in Birmingham.)
Tate said the $163,000 will be used for administration and setting up the programs and events for the center.
"They will partner with us and bring their students over to the Legal Learning Center," Tate said. "We will offer courses taught by judges and lawyers."
Work also continues on renovating the Ruby Bates Boarding House, located at 818 Sycamore St. N.W., It's believed to be where one of the Scottsboro Boys accusers stayed during the trial.
The Decatur City Council donated the house to CEOTA in 2019. At the time, the estimate for the renovation was $500,000.
"We've got to build bathroom, kitchenette, HVAC, communication system, plumbing and more," Tate said. "A lot of work still has to be done."
The third, and possibly the largest phase, will be the planned three-story Civil Rights museum. Tate said the architects are working on the Phase 3 plan.
CEOTA plans to unveil the architect's design for the museum at a fundraising gala on Nov. 13 at Ingalls Harbor Pavilion, she said.
Tate said the size of the Civil Rights museum would depend on how much money they can raise.
— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432
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