{"id":173751,"date":"2026-03-01T10:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/173751\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T10:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:55:18","slug":"tampa-community-rallies-to-rebuild-dr-walter-l-smith-library-and-museum-after-major-hurricane-milton-damage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/173751\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa community rallies to rebuild Dr. Walter L. Smith Library and Museum after major Hurricane Milton damage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

Dr. Walter L. Smith Library and Museum\u00a0was heavily damaged during Hurricane Milton, which tore off the roof of the 117-year-old building.<\/p>\n

Community members gathered at the annual “Fish, Grits, and Black History” event to raise funds and support rebuilding efforts.<\/p>\n

Construction on a redesigned campus is expected to begin within two months and take about a year and a half to complete.<\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla. – The Dr. Walter L. Smith Library and Museum, located on Dr. Walter L. Smith Avenue in Tampa<\/a>, sustained major damage during Hurricane Milton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to owner Walter L. Smith II, the storm “tore the roof clean off,” leaving collapsed ceilings and electrical damage inside the historic structure.<\/p>\n

Timeline<\/p>\n

The building had survived major storms before, including a devastating hurricane in 1921, but was not as fortunate more than a century later.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After the storm, Smith said he rushed to remove artifacts from the damaged building and move them to a neighboring structure, the home where his father grew up, to prevent further loss.<\/p>\n

Walter L. Smith Sr., a Tampa civil rights advocate and educator, founded the nonprofit library and museum in 2005 to preserve Black history and culture in the community.<\/p>\n

“He was responsible for establishing the community college system, the American community college system, in post-apartheid South Africa. And so he brought that knowledge, that information, that effort of second chances and educating people to back home,” Smith II said.<\/p>\n

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He passed away in 2021 and left the property to his son, who has since continued the mission. Smith II describes the campus as a “protection area” for history, a place dedicated to education, culture and second chances.<\/p>\n

What’s next<\/p>\n

Plans are now moving forward to rebuild and expand the campus.<\/p>\n

The new vision includes:<\/p>\n

A larger, industrial-style kitchen space designed to support small business owners<\/p>\n

A research and science center<\/p>\n

Construction is expected to begin within the next two months and could take about 18 months to complete.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper<\/p>\n

The rebuilding effort is drawing strong community support.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Tampa library dedicated to civil rights icon needs the public\u2019s help recovering from Hurricane Milton<\/a><\/p>\n

At the 7th Annual “Fish, Grits, and Black History” event, neighbors gathered in the courtyard to raise funds and take part in discussions on topics ranging from environmental justice in the local Black community to doing business in Africa and the intersection of Black history and farming.<\/p>\n

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Nikki Gaskin-Capehart with the Pinellas County<\/a> Urban League\u00a0said preserving and honoring those stories requires community involvement and shared responsibility.<\/p>\n

Organizers say the event is about more than a meal, it\u2019s about keeping history alive.<\/p>\n

Big picture view<\/p>\n

For many in Tampa, preserving Black history is not limited to one month. The library serves as a cultural anchor, housing artifacts and stories that reflect generations of resilience and progress.<\/p>\n

As rebuilding begins, supporters say the project represents both restoration and renewal, ensuring the legacy of Walter L. Smith Sr. continues for years to come.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

This story is based on on-site reporting at the 7th Annual “Fish, Grits, and Black History” event, interviews with Walter L. Smith II, and remarks from community leaders, including representatives from the Pinellas County Urban League.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief Dr. Walter L. Smith Library and Museum\u00a0was heavily damaged during Hurricane Milton, which tore off the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[9316,135,137,136,82451,82452],"class_list":["post-173751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-black-history","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-walter-l-smith","tag-walter-l-smith-sr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}