Jackson House Foundation outlines restoration plan; easement negotiations with neighboring landowner remain unresolved

The Jackson House Foundation presented a detailed plan to Tampa City Council on Feb. 27 to stabilize and ultimately restore the Jackson House, a locally significant historic property on Zack Street, but said progress is constrained by an unresolved easement and related negotiations with neighboring property owners.

Why it matters: The Jackson House is a preserved site tied to Tampa’s African American cultural and musical history. Foundation leaders told council they have assembled grants and local funding and prepared request-for-proposal (RFP) documents that they say will allow an architect and contractor to complete a restoration if property-access and contractual issues are resolved.

Foundation chair Dr. Carolyn Collins told the council the group is finalizing two formal agreements: an appropriation agreement to consolidate public and private funds for the project and a fiscal-management memorandum of understanding already in place with the Tampa Bay History Center. “We want all that in one place being financially managed the way it is now,” Collins said, describing funds “from the county, from the CRA, from the Phoenix, from the state” and identifying a $1 million state grant plus an additional $500,000 state allocation arranged by legislators as part of the funding package. She said artifacts removed from the house have been fumigated, cataloged and placed in paid storage.

Collins outlined the immediate technical steps: stabilize floors and walls, repair the foundation, preserve salvageable building fabric stored off-site, then proceed to an architect-led design and a construction procurement. She said the foundation will post current RFQs/RFPs for an architect and construction manager “no later than Monday” and expects specialized subcontractors will be required for historic windows and other elements.

But the foundation and council repeatedly identified a separate dispute as the key barrier: securing a side-access easement and resolving a companion alley-vacation offset with the Accardi brothers, who own adjacent land. Councilman Guido Maniscalco described the alley vacation as a quasi-judicial process that would require a separate action by council and said, “The holdup is that the parties have to apply for the vacation of the alleyway.” Foundation representatives said Accardi’s team had circulated a draft agreement that contained a nondisclosure clause and asked the foundation to indicate support for the alley vacation; the foundation said that clause has constrained public discussion and delayed a final agreement.

Contractor and board member Ronnie Williams explained his role in prior stabilization work and said he and the foundation have identified qualified contractors for specialized historic work. He also said that the foundation has explored two design paths: (1) fully preserving and reassembling the original wood structure (the preferred option to maintain historic designation) or (2) rebuilding a visually identical structure on a more fire-resistant substrate (which would forfeit the historic designation). Collins said the foundation favors preservation of the original building fabric when possible.

Council members pressed for faster movement. Councilman Charlie Clendenin, who voted earlier in the meeting on other items, said he supports the restoration and asked the foundation to proceed with their RFQ and design work while negotiations continue. Council members Erin Hertack and Suelyn Henderson said they wanted a stronger demonstration of near-term project management capacity: both urged the foundation to secure a dedicated project manager or construction manager to coordinate procurement, permitting, the state grant requirements and the multiple funding sources.

Public comment at the meeting amplified the council discussion. Residents, neighborhood advocates and arts and music organizations urged the city and private stakeholders to resolve access and easement negotiations quickly and to preserve the building's historic fabric. Several speakers connected the Jackson House to broader efforts to preserve African American historic sites in Tampa.

What remains open: The foundation and the Accardi parties were negotiating terms of an agreement that would address access and parking, and the foundation reported it had received a draft agreement that included a nondisclosure clause it could not share publicly. Foundation leaders asked council to help facilitate a transparent resolution of the easement and alley vacation so RFPs and contracts can proceed without further delay. No formal council vote or funding appropriation occurred at this meeting.

The foundation said it will continue monthly donor and community meetings and plans quarterly updates to state grantors; the group said tracked milestones will include issuing RFQs/RFPs, selecting an architect, and executing any easement/appropriation agreements before construction begins.

Ending: Council members and the foundation emphasized they would continue to press for an off-ramp that preserves as much original fabric as possible while allowing work to begin. Dr. Collins said the foundation aims to be “accountable for every brown penny” and reiterated the group’s readiness to move once property-access and procurement steps are finalized.