Comments

This should be a place for all to get together. Maybe a place where we can make a Columbia museum, where we celebrate all people, not just one race or gender. All races played a role in making Columbia what it is. That should be celebrated. We need a Columbia museum to honor ALL the people who made it great and to realize the mistakes that have been made. A pure unfiltered history of Columbia.

As it has a History of African American community. City should plan for All Minority community development actives in the building

Attempt to recreate the design that is congruent/reflective of the original design; I have an image of design in my head, close to the Missouri Theatre. I also remember seeing Maya Angelou at Jesse Hall so a bit of flare for that setting as well. I believe it could display many items of the days gone by reflective of black history and culture including displays of music, instruments, clothing, etc.

City ownership means the building isn't paying property taxes. Unless the city leases space to businesses, the building won't generate sales taxes, either. Our community simply can't afford all of these tax-exempt properties.

I am seconding/combining Kiley.Grimes and LittleFish's comments about a creative hub/community. It would be great for adults, but I also feel there's not a lot of places for kids to go after school or even on weekends besides the mall and wandering downtown. There used to be much more affordable and teen-friendly places to go when I was that age here (the Armory had different youth-friendly events, more kid-friendly stores to browse, Gunther's Games, etc). It would be awesome to get more of our youth involved in learning professional and personal development skills like resume writing, job interviewing, trade school/college info. It would also be a great place to host a youth open mic, have art classes, teach graphic design, coding, etc. We keep seeing younger folks getting into trouble around here and I can't help but wonder if something like this can give our youth more direction for years to come.