No images? Click here Juneteenth: "Lifting as we Climb"While our offices are closed today in observance of Juneteenth, we wanted to bring you a story from our colleagues at LISC Twin Cities. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, one South Minneapolis community convulsed in pain and suffered massive destruction. On Juneteenth this year, it celebrates the fruition of a project that speaks volumes about community agency and ownership, and how support from intermediaries, including LISC, can be profoundly transformative in building back stronger, and more sustainably, than ever before. ![]() “Lifting As We Climb”: In South Minneapolis, a Historic Restoration Heals6.18.2024 - LISC Stories Four years ago a landmark commercial building in South Minneapolis was badly fire-damaged in the anguished days of civil unrest that followed the police murder of George Floyd. What happened next to this century-old beauty surprised a lot of people. Rather than see it demolished or snapped up by bottom-feeding real estate interests, a partnership anchored by Black women harnessed $30 million in public and private money, restored and upgraded the 85,000-square-foot building, and will own and operate it going forward. Today, the Historic Coliseum Building stands on East Lake Street as a symbol of renewal and a sign that things don’t have to be the way they’ve always been. With affordable rents and loaded with amenities, the building makes a home for small businesses owned by Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC). It is a showcase for BIPOC art and design, and plants the flag of Black ownership—with all the powerful agency and wealth-building opportunities that entails—on one of the most important commercial corridors in Minneapolis. Kitty-corner from the 3rd precinct police station where George Floyd’s murderer was assigned, the Coliseum is set to reopen Wednesday in a community celebration of Juneteenth—the day when the last enslaved people in the United States were finally informed of their freedom, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. “At its very core, Juneteenth is an affirmation that we are here, and we will continue to be here,” says Taylor Smrikárova, director of real estate development at Redesign, Inc., the community development corporation (CDC) that spearheaded the project. “The redevelopment of the Coliseum Building is an investment in the radical ideas of equity, sustainability, and prosperity for all.” |