A $51 million investment is on its way to South St. Pete, and residents got their first look at the plans for a new community hub on Wednesday night. FOX 13’s Matthew McClellan reports.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A once-in-a-generation project is underway in South St. Pete, where city leaders are reimagining two of the community’s most important spaces: the Enoch Davis Center and the James Weldon Johnson Community Library.
What we know:
Together, the buildings will be replaced by a new 52,000-square-foot complex designed to serve as a hub for learning, culture, and connection.
The price tag is $51 million, and the city insists it will be shaped by the people who use it most.
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Community input:
At a meeting Wednesday night inside the Enoch Davis Center, residents filled the room to hear the first details and share ideas. The gathering marked Phase One of the project, which city officials describe as a listening stage.
Mayor Ken Welch told neighbors that the plan is about far more than construction.
“(The Davis Center) is a beloved space in our city,” Welch told FOX 13 News. “I knew that growing up here; it serves everybody from young folks to… seniors’ organizations meet here. It’s also a primary hub after hurricanes; it was a disaster recovery center. So, it is a well-used space and now we want to make sure that we’ve got all the community input as we build this new space for the next 50 years supporting this community.”
Welch, who grew up in South St. Pete, pointed to the personal and historic significance of the two buildings.
“It’s a great building, but it is 44 years old. It’s weathered. And it’s time to take that next step to a more resilient building, but also a building that is multi-use, that has the technology, that has all the capabilities that we need. For example, for after school, for kids, having that technology, having virtual meetings technology, all of those things we want to have in this new building.”
The backstory:
The Enoch Davis Center opened in 1981, named for the longtime pastor and activist who spent his life serving St. Petersburg’s Black community. It grew into a hub offering legal aid, utility bill assistance, meeting rooms, and dining for seniors.
Next door, the James Weldon Johnson Library has roots stretching back to 1947, when it was founded because Black residents were barred from using the city’s main library. What began with just over 1,000 books became a cultural anchor.
What’s next:
The city’s design team includes Place Architecture, Lake Flato Architects, and other firms with national expertise. They will now take input from Wednesday’s meeting, along with responses from an online survey to shape concept drawings.
Once concept drawings and cost estimates are complete, the project will move into design and eventually construction. Welch promised regular updates and emphasized that collaboration will continue.
The city says it wants every step of the process to keep South St. Pete residents at the center, from the first sketches to the day the new doors open.
The Source: Transcript of remarks from Mayor Ken Welch at the Sept. 17 community meeting, plus supporting documents on the Enoch Davis Center and James Weldon Johnson Library.