With a $500,000 investment, the Quantum Foundation, a Florida-based nonprofit, is advancing Palm Beach County’s plan to build a Black History Museum and Research Center at a former high school with historic ties to segregation. The project aims to transform the area, which has been plagued by disinvestment for decades.
Danita DeHaney, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, which is overseeing planning for the project, announced that the funding is key to moving the massive project forward.
Related articles
The Quantum Foundation focuses on health care in underserved areas of the state. “This region has deep historical roots, and it’s important to share the stories of the people who built and shaped Florida,” Eric Kelly, president of the foundation, said in a statement disclosing the grant agreement.
The museum is located on the grounds of the former Roosevelt High School, an all-black school that served as a segregated site for Palm Beach County students in the 1950s and 1960s. In recent years, the campus where the school building is located has become a community center for social services.
The proposed plan seeks to restore a portion of the campus that has fallen into disarray over the years, with the goal of building a 20,000-square-foot museum focused on the site’s ties to the area’s black history.
The project has received $1 million in local funding for its design and construction. In a statement, DeHaney called on the county to focus on preserving the stories of longtime residents who witnessed Roosevelt’s segregation era, many of whom are now elderly, and to preserve the area’s historical record for future generations.
Six construction firms have been shortlisted to lead the proposed building project.
