The Ohio History Connection broke ground on the Poindexter Village African American Museum on the Near East Side on Wednesday, a development years in the making.
Poindexter Village was dedicated in 1940 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the first public housing project in Columbus and one of the first in the U.S. The development in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood was named after Columbus abolitionist and civil rights activist Rev. James Preston Poindexter.
In 2014, the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) received a federal grant to revitalize the area. Most of the original buildings have been demolished, but the James Preston Poindexter Foundation and others pushed to save two buildings that the Ohio History Connection later bought.
The two buildings sit on North Champion Avenue between East Long Street and Mount Vernon Avenue.
“This is a huge milestone. The community has worked over a decade for this effort,” said Shelbi Toone, the project director for the museum with Ohio History Connection. “This is huge. We're excited. And we're grateful for all our community partners like James Preston Poindexter Foundation, and Union Grove Baptist Church. Today's a celebration.”
The Ohio History Connection hopes to raise $25.9 million to renovate the buildings. So far $14.5 million has been raised, with CMHA announcing an additional $500,000 to its previous $1 million donation at the groundbreaking.
Toone said the Poindexter Village community, both past and present, guided plans for the museum.
“We're grateful for the efforts of the residents of this neighborhood that felt the need to share this story and preserve this story, it's super important to do,” Toone said. “We also are looking forward to the work that needs to be done on the Near East Side to sustain this history as it's changing.”
On Wednesday, one of the former housing units was open for people to walk through and see plans of what the space will look like as a museum. Toone said the museum will feature how former units appeared in the 1940s up to the 2010s.
Other planned areas for the museum are community spaces, exhibition halls, an oral history, a research lab and an art gallery. The museum is set to open in early 2028.
