The Fort Worth City Council will vote on a resolution Tuesday evening to support the construction of the National Juneteenth Museum. The museum could be built on the city’s Near Southside, replacing a community center at the corner of Rosedale and New York Avenue.
The resolution would pledge up to one third the cost of construction, up to $15 million. The city would also require a feasibility study and business plan “demonstrating that the museum’s ongoing operations are economically and financially feasible without City subsidy.”
Fort Worth would lease the land to the museum for $1 a year for 40 years. Services provided by the community center would move a couple blocks northeast to the Hazel Harvey Peace Center for Neighborhoods.
Organizers say the National Juneteenth Museum would serve as a cultural center and include a theater and business incubator.
“Everything Juneteenth, everything freedom is going to be right here in the City of Fort Worth,” says Museum Board Chair Angela Mitchell. “This is an amazing opportunity for us.”
Mitchell says the museum’s design will incorporate the Juneteenth flag and shotgun houses in the neighborhood.
“There’s just been a lot of intentionality that has gone into the architecture and into the design,” she says. “I think it is a beautiful thing.”
Opal Lee grew up in the neighborhood and led the effort to make Juneteenth a national holiday. Now 98 years old, she leads a walk through the neighborhood on Juneteenth each year.
“Because of her, we’re able to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday on a national scale,” Mitchell says.
Mitchell does not yet have a date to start construction on the museum, but the council resolution says ground will be broken before October 1, 2026.
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