City plans temporary move of Black Academy of Arts and Letters to Women’s Museum at Fair Park during convention center renovations

City officials told the Quality of Life, Arts and Culture Committee on March 25 that the Black Academy of Arts and Letters will temporarily relocate to the former Women’s Museum at Fair Park while the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center undergoes component 4 renovations.

Reginald Williams, assistant director for Convention and Event Services, said Dakeda Enterprises (the city’s owner representative for component 4) and city departments evaluated several sites and recommended the Women’s Museum because it is an underused park asset with DART access and available parking. “We conducted multiple site tours…completed a facility condition assessment,” Williams said, and the city plans phased repairs to ready the building for programming.

Dakeda’s chief operating officer, David Zobrist, walked the committee through plans to create multipurpose rooms, a 150-seat cabaret theater, galleries and support spaces across three floors while preserving historic elements. Officials estimated the repair scope at $6,100,000 and said the work is intended to leave the building in improved condition for future park or tenant use.

Eve Williams, CEO of Dakeda Enterprises, called the project an opportunity to “breathe new life in an underutilized asset at Fair Park” and said the site’s parking and DART access make it suitable for families and school programming. City staff said the estimated work will include abatement and select demolition, roof and MEP upgrades, and ADA improvements; officials said the estimate includes allowances for expected repairs.

The convention center construction fund will pay the cost; Williams (CES) confirmed the funding source. The schedule presented to the committee calls for finalizing the scope in early April, issuing a notice to proceed thereafter, concluding lease negotiations by June, and moving the Black Academy into the Women’s Museum in August 2025. Construction on the convention center component is estimated at 18–24 months, and staff said they expect the Academy to return to its renovated facility by late 2028.

Committee members raised concerns about displacement of other groups that have used the Women’s Museum and asked how the city will accommodate them, particularly during State Fair dates. Fair Park staff and Parks officials said they are coordinating with the State Fair of Texas; Miss Lowe said the State Fair is accommodating and that the site has historically been used during the fair. Parks staff said there is dedicated parking immediately adjacent to the building (roughly 60–70 spaces) and that additional parking options exist across Fair Park.

Black Academy leader Curtis King told the committee that the academy works with many small arts organizations and students and said he supports collaborative approaches to programming and community partnerships during the temporary move.

The committee received the briefing; no formal committee action was taken on the relocation at this meeting.