Tampa City Council helps clear big hurdle toward preserving the historic Jackson House

Another hurdle cleared for the Jackson House

The Jackson House is a dilapidated structure with almost 125 years of history, and it is moving forward with restoration efforts for the historic landmark. Briona Arradondo reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - The Jackson House is a dilapidated structure with almost 125 years of history, and it is moving forward with restoration efforts for the historic landmark.

The backstory:

The Jackson House, located at 851 Zack Street, served one of the oldest Black neighborhoods in Tampa as a boarding house since 1901 for stars like James Brown and Ella Fitzgerald. It sits in what was once a historically Black neighborhood known as The Scrub, and the house provided African American travelers a place to stay during the Jim Crow era and segregation, when laws didn’t allow them into white spaces.

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"Very few people know that not the Jackson family, but the Robinson family were the last ones to hold up that banner of that house. That whole family, Jacksons and Robinsons, made a significant contribution to economic development when we didn’t even use the term economic development," said Carolyn Collins, the chair of the board of directors for the Jackson House Foundation. "[It housed] a barber shop, a beauty shop, rooming houses, laundry room, even the son’s had a taxi company."

Progress on restoring the piece of Tampa history stalled for years until a major hurdle was cleared on Thursday by Tampa City Council.

"The city stepped up and did something that the state of Florida kept saying why every time we get your quarterly report, we’re hearing that there’s been no progress, because you do not have the easement that you need," said Collins.

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Collins said council members came to an agreement with Accardi Properties, the owner of the parking lot beside the structure, approving a resolution to make a 10-foot strip available around it.

"What happened yesterday was what we’d been trying to do for three years," said Collins.

But, she said they weren’t waiting any longer.

What's next:

Earlier this year, the Jackson House Foundation began the process of securing an architect and engineer, wrapping up interviews this week.

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"We have one last phase of the interview, which is a walk around, not walk through, unfortunately," said Collins.

The walk-around is set to happen in the coming days, and the next step is the community redevelopment agency also signing off on the easement in a few weeks, Collins said.

Why you should care:

Millions of dollars in grants and private funding are already secured, but construction is more expensive now.

"Yes, this delay has significantly probably increased the cost of the house. But, it did not prohibit nor will it prohibit the house from being constructed," said Collins.

Collins said they aren’t letting anything get in their way of restoring the landmark.

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"It’s to maintain the history of Tampa. It’s to maintain the history of the African American community. It’s to maintain the history of the Scrub," said Collins.

The Jackson House Foundation said they will select their contractor for construction as soon as they get that final easement approval, and they’re working on design plans with board members and the community.