Part of the second-floor wall of the historic Jackson House collapsed on Monday, leaving a portion of the interior exposed. <\/p>\n
It marks just the latest damage to the century-old building, which has sat in disrepair for years, awaiting renovations. <\/p>\n
Built in 1901, The Jackson House<\/a>, served as a boarding house for African Americans during segregation. The Jackson family hosted famous individuals including Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and James Brown.<\/p>\n It closed in 1989 and was designated a historical landmark.<\/p>\n Plans to restore the building and turn it into a museum have been delayed<\/a> partly because of disagreements between contractors and the Jackson House Foundation, the organization that owns the building.<\/p>\n Strict requirements governing the restoration process have also prolonged repairs. <\/p>\n ALSO READ: An architect on why renovating Tampa’s Jackson House will take longer than expected<\/a><\/p>\n “We can\u2019t just tear it down and rebuild it because it has grant funding from the city, state, and the state governs the local National Register of Historic Places,” lead architect Jerel McCants told \u201cFlorida Matters Live & Local\u201d in a recent interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n The two-story, 24-room boarding house is the only remaining building from Tampa\u2019s oldest Black neighborhood, the Scrub.<\/p>\n Fingerprints are etched into the plaster walls, according to one of the descendants<\/a> of the Jackson family.<\/p>\n Community members are intent on preserving this part of Tampa history, but timing matters.<\/p>\n