Opa-locka’s Art of Transformation, the Miami Art Week activation that drew hundreds to historic downtown this month, was never just about art.
For Ten North Group and city officials, the multi-day circuit served as a live case study for why Opa-locka is the most feasible, cost-efficient, and tourist-ready location for the future Florida Museum of Black History — despite a state task force already ranking St. Johns County first.
READ MORE: Art of the African diaspora on display at Opa-Locka showcase for Art Week
Willie Logan, Ten North Group’s president and CEO, said the organization remains steadfast in its mission to bring the museum to Opa-locka.
“Through experiences like AOT, we advance that vision, lifting our neighborhoods, inviting new audiences in, and affirming Opa-locka’s rightful place within Florida’s cultural landscape,” Logan said. “We have the artifacts, the audience, and the experience in putting together exhibitions and drawing crowds.”
He added, “Miami clearly is the only real place in South Florida where such a museum should be, and Opa-locka happens to be the only place in South Florida that’s viable.”
The competition isn’t over
The push comes more than a year after a state task force ranked St. Johns County’s former Florida Memorial University campus in West Augustine as its top choice to host the museum, ahead of Eatonville and Opa-locka.
Since then, the Florida Memorial University Foundation has signed a ground leasewith St. Johns County, and lawmakers have approved $1 million for planning. Meanwhile, a billfiledby Sen. Tom Leek for the 2026 legislative session to formalize St. Johns as the chosen site has cleared the Senate Community Affairs Committee but remains stalled in the House — mirroring last year’s legislative impasse.
In Opa-locka, leaders say the race is still open.
“There’s this misunderstanding that St. Johns was undeniably given the pass or the path forward,” said Alex Van Mecl, a resident, founder of the Opa-locka Preservation Association and consultant for Ten North Group, who curated the “Tales of Opa-locka” exhibition.
“They certainly did get a boost from the legislator with an initial dollar amount,” he admitted, “but we really believe that we still have a chance to really stand out from the other two.”
Opa-locka Mayor John H. Taylor said advocacy is ongoing.
“We have been back and forth to Tallahassee starting last year. Going into this year, we're going back to tell them, ‘Hey, we want this in our city,’” he said.
In February, the Opa-locka City Commission approved a resolution to revise recommendations and recognize Opa-locka as a potential site for the museum, further designating the Historic City Hall as an interim exhibition space.
READ MORE: Heritage trail celebrates city of Opa-Locka and its architectural gems
Ten North Group is also pursuing a legislative strategy.
"We have a bill that's [entered] bill drafting. It [is] sponsored by representatives from north of Jacksonville and south of Miami, both in the House and Senate," Logan said.
He added that the organization plans to be in Tallahassee “in force in January,” presenting its own feasibility study and three years of planning materials to lawmakers.
Shovel-ready and cheaper
Ten North’s feasibility study argues that Opa-locka is the only finalist with an immediately buildable, fully controlled site.
"The feasibility study, the market analysis, the infrastructure study, site control, as well as appropriate zoning — Opa-locka is the only site that has all of that,” said Logan.
The proposed 4.5-acre site at the Opa-locka Regional Service Center already has roads, utilities, and compatible zoning. The city and state control the land, eliminating acquisition risks and keeping early development costs low. The area is also a transit-oriented development zone just steps from Tri-Rail.
“Opa-locka’s site is simply a turnkey operation,” Taylor said. “It is already a site in operation by the state of Florida, so it’s simply redeveloping the land or repurposing the building for the Black History Museum.”
The study places Opa-locka’s site-preparation costs below $500,000 and between $500,000 and $2 million for St. Johns, where foundation costs could be 20-50% higher. It estimates a cost of “a few hundred thousand dollars” for Orange County’s Eatonville site, but notes needed assessments, utilities and drainage before that location could be build-ready.
“The site in St. Johns is a vacant site. It has no infrastructure; it’s wetlands. It has no roads leading to it, and they don’t have site control. Eatonville, though, is in a little bit of shape; they can’t start today. There’s no facility nowhere around it. We can start day one,” Logan said.
Demographics and tourism
The study further argues that Opa-locka is the most culturally aligned with the museum’s mission. The historically Black city is 52% Black and sits within Miami-Dade’s population of more than 500,000 Black residents — the largest Black community in Florida. Surrounding neighborhoods or municipalities such as Liberty City, Miami Gardens, Overtown, Little Haiti, and North Miami create a built-in ecosystem for programming and partnerships.
By contrast, St. Augustine is 8.1% Black with a declining Black population, while Eatonville, though historically significant, has only about 1,730 Black residents.
Logan noted that South Florida has long been a crossroads for Black migration and early settlement, from freedom seekers who forged ties with Native Americans to those who later moved through the region to the Bahamas and back. Those early movements, combined with the region’s railroad-era growth, define South Florida’s history.
“You can’t know Florida history without knowing South Florida history, and you can’t know South Florida history without knowing the City of Miami, the City of Opa-locka, and the City of Palm Beach, which were among the stops of the Flagler Railroad and [Seaboard Air Line Railroad],” he said.
Further, during the Jim Crow era, Opa-locka was a community not intended for — or occupied by — African Americans. Black men built the city along with their white counterparts but were not able to leisurely enjoy attractions in the city and with their families until the veteran boom in the 1950s.
Tourism, the study notes, also favors Opa-locka. Miami-Dade draws 26 million to 27 million annual visitors — far more than St. Augustine’s 6–7 million — and more than 40% of those express interest in cultural and heritage tourism. That distinguishes Opa-locka from Orlando’s theme-park-driven tourism and from St. Johns’ Spanish-colonial identity.
Dr. Babacar M’Bow, Ten North Group’s curator, said AOT demonstrates the type of cultural footprint the museum could scale statewide.
“We are part of the larger Miami and are emerging as one of the top cities for art and culture in the world,” he said. “That is the basis on which we believe, if there has to be a Florida State Museum for Black history and culture, it should be located in Opa-locka.”
Haitian artist Philippe Dodard, a longtime AOT participant, agrees with that sentiment. His three-container installation traces the African diaspora from its origins, through the Middle Passage and the Haitian Revolution.
“When you walk through the city, there are memories already there,” Dodard said.
Opa-locka’s proximity to Miami International Airport and major highways strengthens accessibility, according to the study, and Miami-Dade offers the state’s largest pool of museum and art professionals through institutions such as Miami Dade College and Florida International University. The study projects the museum could attract 200,000–500,000 yearly visitors and generate $12–$18 million at stabilization.
What’s at stake
For Opa-locka officials, the museum represents cultural recognition and a catalyst for redevelopment.
“A museum, like a stadium, is a catalyst for redevelopment,” Logan said. “You attract housing, mixed-income housing, businesses, restaurants, bookstores. It’s also about how do you redevelop the neighborhood to make sure that current residents benefit from it, but also you're attracting visitors and new residents?”
Still, he acknowledged, politics is always a major factor, even when economics and community impact favor one site.
“This is not to say that politics doesn't consider the economic value or the relative impact on residents, but it does participate in any discussion,” Logan said. “We’re very fortunate to have Speaker [of the House Daniel] Perez from Miami-Dade County, who is economically efficient and really wants the best for the people of Florida. That increases our ability to participate and be, if not the site, at least a major site.”
Ten North has launched a campaignto show lawmakers and tourists that it is the best site for a future Florida Museum of Black History.
This story was produced by The Miami Times, one of the oldest Black-owned newspapers in the country, as part of a content sharing partnership with the WLRN newsroom. Read more at miamitimesonline.com.
