Community leaders remain hopeful about the possibility of building an African American museum and cultural arts center in the Historic Westside.
Planning kicked off in 2020, and as we begin 2024, Las Vegas city councilman Cedric Crear said we are still in the master planning and discovery phase.
He said consultants hired by the city have conducted a feasibility study.
“We have what it may cost. We have some renderings of what it may potentially look like,” Crear said.
But he said they still need to work out important details, like the exact location and funding.
“We’re a long ways away, yet we’re a lot further along than we were before,” Crear said.
Based on surveys and public input sessions , he said this is something many people in the community want. This is also something Crear is passionate about, as his ward includes the Historic Westside, a historically Black community.
“If you look at the rich history of African Americans that have played a key role in the development of our city, it’s important that we chronicle that, that we show that, and that we display that,” Crear said. “There’s a lot of ways we can go about doing that, whether that’s art, sculpture, stories, just telling the history of what has taken place. I think it’s important. Las Vegas wouldn’t be what it is without the Black community.”