01-05-2025
Eatonville back in the running as proposed amendment rekindles hope for black history museum
The nation's oldest incorporated Black municipality may soon have another opportunity to host a Black History Museum.
'I'm really praying that they will have a change of mind and a lot of us have been praying that it will come back here,' said Glenn Paige, Owner of Blessed By The Best Barber and Beauty Salon.
Tuesday, State Representative Bruce Antone amended Senate Bill 466, aiming to designate Eatonville, along with St. Johns County and Opa-Locka, as potential sites for the museum. The amendment seeks to rectify previous decisions and ensure a more inclusive selection process.
'My museum would be 30% dedicated to the history of Florida, and the other 70% would be dedicated to black history, meaning we're going to remember the past, but we're going to celebrate the future,' said Antone.
Antone's amendment comes after a contentious decision by the Florida Museum of Black History Task Force, which previously selected an undeveloped site in St. Johns County over Eatonville despite the rich history and readiness to host the museum.
Orange County wanted to build a facility that included a performing arts center and a hotel off Interstate 4 and argued the former Hungerford School site was best poised for success.
St. Johns County leaned heavily on its history and the heavily weighted scoring to rise above concerns that its rural location was far from anything else and wouldn't be able to sustain a major museum.
'St. Augustine was supposed to do a feasibility study, which they had not done. So, they don't know whether a museum can sustain itself in St. Augustine, but it can certainly sustain itself in Orange County,' said Antone.
Antone said the amendment is not to take away from St. Johns County but to more locations that work for everyone.
Senate Bill 466 was passed in the Senate back in April and sent to the House in messages.
The amendment would strike the language in the bill that only creates a Black History Museum in St. Johns County. It would then add language to create three Florida Museum of History locations in St. Johns County, Opa-Locka, and Eatonville.
The amendment would also include The Department of State partnering with each location, the locations must conduct a financial feasibility study, and budgets must match on a one-to-one basis with any combination of local government funding, grants, or philanthropic contributions not exceeding $75 million over 5 years.
For Eatonville, this development is more than a legislative change but an opportunity to celebrate and preserve its unique heritage. The establishment of the museum would not only honor the town's legacy but serve as an educational and cultural hub for future generations.
Residents said placing the museum on the site of the former Hungerford School would help the town thrive economically. State Rep Antone said Orlando's tourist power marks Eatonville as a viable place for the museum.
'The town of Eatonville and Orange County offers a much better prospect for a museum that is able to sustain itself. Meaning enough money would come in just from the admission because the feasibility study for Orange County said that maybe half a million people would visit the museum. If you charge $10, that's 5 million dollars per year that could be used for operational management,' said Antone.
The proposed amendment aims to rectify this by acknowledging multiple historically significant locations, giving Eatonville another chance. Resident said the move would be a step toward inclusivity and recognition of the diverse narratives that constitute Florida's Black history.
'We have a lot of hope in Eatonville,' said Paige.
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