AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin museum that honors Black history is finally getting an upgrade. The City of Austin is getting ready to expand the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center in East Austin.
City leaders approved a three-phase building program back in 2000. Of the proposed phases, phase one was completed in 2005, while phases two and three haven't been addressed.
Now, 20 years later, a meeting is scheduled for Aug. 8 to finally talk about what needs to be done. A survey is currently open for the community to share their desires and needs for the existing space, what they think can be improved and their vision for the center's future.
According to the City, the center's roots were established in Austin in the 1930s. Austin's first public library was moved to East Austin in 1933, and the building because the city's first library for the Black community. A larger library was built to better serve the area in 1980, and the public chose to reopen the historic library building as the George Washington Carver Museum that year.
In 1998, a bond was passed to build a "state of the art" complex expanding on the museum. The new complex opened its doors in 2005.
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The completed first phase of the City's "CarverMuseumATX Master Planning Process" included the development of a lobby with reception, lecture hall/theater, classrooms, a dance studio, a dark room, a conference room, a commercial kitchen, outdoor plazas, storage and expanded parking.
You can read more about the planning process here. According to the City, the center has over 8,000 items of "artistic and historical significance."
The center is currently closed due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the Austin area, but it is offering digital programming.
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