FORT WORTH, Texas — No one is more anxious for construction to start for the National Juneteenth Museum than Ms. Opal Lee. She is known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth.
She used some old-school words to describe the future Fort Worth destination.
"Oh, it's going be off the chain," Ms. Opal Lee said.
The museum will be a 50,000-square-foot cultural center hosting guest lectures, community events, and business incubators. But the focus will be the historical June 19 celebration ending slavery. It's something the 97-year-old is counting on seeing for herself too.
"We plan to open in 2025, and I hope that still happens. But there's been some things changes here, changes there," said Lee.
One of those changes involves property ownership.
The land for the National Juneteenth Museum is on East Rosedale Street near Evans Avenue. The renderings show it stretching along Rosedale Street. But there are two plots of land that belong to someone else.
WFAA learned that 951 and 953 East Rosedale Street are owned by a Fort Worth man. One plot has a vacant building on it. The other plot is empty. The landowner initially agreed to an interview with WFAA but has not been reachable in weeks.
National Juneteenth Museum CEO Jarred Howard says his goal is to break ground sometime in 2024.
They are in a serious fundraising campaign and secured their first corporate sponsorship. BNSF Railroad is donating $2 million to the project.
The initial designs include the museum being in the area along East Rosedale Street which may result in a few design changes due to property ownership.
"We own all the property that we need to build the project right now," said Jarred Howard, "It's always been our goal to acquire as much land as we possibly can because expansion is a real possibility in the future."
Ms. Opal Lee is convinced that property ownership won't be a hurdle for them.
"It's not at the front," said Lee, "So I don't see it being a hindrance at all."
The land was cleared before the last Juneteenth holiday. The hope is to still break ground on the project in 2024, and 97-year-old Lee says she wants that to happen sooner rather than later.