{"id":22421,"date":"2013-07-09T13:13:28","date_gmt":"2013-07-09T17:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=22421"},"modified":"2013-07-09T13:13:28","modified_gmt":"2013-07-09T17:13:28","slug":"we-must-save-central-avenues-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=22421","title":{"rendered":"We Must Save Central Avenue’s History"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0TAMPA \u2013 When Tampa’s slaves were liberated on May 5-6, 1864, most of them settled in the area called the “Scrub”, just north of what today is downtown.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the 1890s, African Americans began opening businesses in the area that became Central Avenue. And by the time Central Park Village opened in 1954, the district was known around the world as the “Harlem of the South”, with nearly 100 Black-owned businesses and entertainment venues.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles and James Brown performed there, among others.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Today, the City of Tampa and the Tampa Housing Authority (U. S. Dept. of HUD) want to resurrect that glorious history with a $6.5 million redevelopment plan. But this plan is threatened by the existence of a skate bowl that was built in the middle of Perry Harvey, Sr. Park (the former Central Avenue) in 1978.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The bowl is not historic, but skate boarder Shannon Bruffett has applied to the State of Florida for protection of the skate bowl because of its “cultural” value. This must end NOW! <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 People who believe in justice and progress must support the city’s plan to close the bowl and build a new one for $600,000 on the northern end of the park. This will make the central section of the park available for an African American Leaders’ Row, a statue of Perry Harvey, Sr. and outdoor performance space.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The public is invited to a meeting Tuesday July 16, 6 – 8 p. m. for an update on this proposal at the Ella Building Clubhouse, 1210 Ray Charles Boulevard (near Scott and Governor Streets). Call City of Tampa Architect Thomas Hester for more information at (813) 274-8442.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Supporters of relocation of the skate bowl in Perry Harvey Park should e-mail the State of Florida National Register Review Board by July 17 at Celeste Ivory@DOS.MyFlorida.com, and attend the board’s meeting in Tallahassee July 25, 1 p. m. in the Gray Building Auditorium, 500 S. Bronough Street – Tallahassee, Fla. 32399-0250. Call Celeste Ivory by July 17 at (850) 245-6332 to request that she send your comments to the five-member board that will vote on this issue in Tallahassee July 25, or to register for a teleconference.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let’s Save Central Avenue!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

FRED HEARNS\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perry Harvey Park Citizens Advisory Committee Chair<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0TAMPA \u2013 When Tampa’s slaves were liberated on May 5-6, 1864, most of them settled in the area called the “Scrub”, just north of what today is downtown.\u00a0 In the 1890s, African Americans began opening businesses in the area that became Central Avenue. And by the time Central Park Village opened in 1954, the district […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22421\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}