Sistrunk Boulevard is the main street of the oldest Black neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale. It was a thriving arterial for many of the city’s historically black communities. Lining its corridor was the first theater in Broward where Black people could watch movies, the first hospital that would treat Black patients and numerous locally owned businesses.
But around the 1980’s the area began to be neglected and slum and blight crept in. In recent years, the Sistrunk neighborhood has seen a boom in new construction leading to raising housing costs and gentrification.
A new exhibit at the Old Dillard Museum, “Sistrunk Then & Now” will highlight those changes. The exhibit features historical then-and-now photos from as far back as the 1950s paired with current day photos of the same locations. It debuts Jan. 15 with an opening night program, beginning at 6 p.m…