Bill Carlson said that in late 2013 he promised Jackson House owner Willie Robinson that he would help save Tampa’s last standing segregation-era boardinghouse.
Months later, he was among those who stopped the city from demolishing the century-old downtown structure built by Robinson’s family.
Robinson has since died, and the Jackson House is owned by a foundation charged with restoring and turning it into a Black history museum.
Now a Tampa City Council member, Carlson said he intends to continue to live up to his vow to Robinson.
With the building seemingly ready to fall over, Carlson said the Jackson House Foundation should sell it to the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency. If the nonprofit refuses, Carlson said, the city should find a way to take ownership. He is even willing to condemn and temporarily dismantle the historic building at 851 E Zack St.
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