The National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside will be the city’s center of Black culture, said Jarred Howard, an executive with project developer Sable Brands.

Speaking at an event Thursday at the Ella Mae Shamblee Library, Howard gave a preview of what residents can expect when the museum and adjoining food hall and business incubator open in the summer of 2024.

The food hall focus on culturally Black cuisine and will have a similar layout to the food offerings at Crockett Row in the West 7th District. Howard cited Soul food, Cajun food and Caribbean cuisine as examples of potential offerings.

The business incubator will promote entrepreneurship, ranging from law firms to plumbing companies, Howard said. He noted the importance of plumbers and welders, particularly in the wake of February’s winter storm.

“If you were a plumber in the state of Texas last February, you would still be eating off the payout you got back then,” Howard quipped.

The development will help revitalize the Historic Southside neighborhood in a way that respects its cultural importance to Fort Worth’s Black community, Howard said.

“It hasn’t been gentrified yet, so there’s still opportunity, but nothing happens unless you make it happen,” he said.

District 8 council member Chris Nettles said the revitalization should mirror Opal Lee’s effort to make Juneteen a national holiday. Lee, who walked 1,400 miles in 2016 to raise awareness of Juneteenth, was honored at the White House in June as President Joe Biden signed the bill designating the new holiday.

“She did not give up, and you’re going to see something that’s remarkable,” Nettles said.

Dionne Sims, the museum’s executive director, said exhibits will focus on more than just the story of how enslaved people in Galveston were informed of their freedom on June 19, 1865.

“What we want to do here in Fort Worth is concentrate on the freedom that Juneteenth represents,” Sims said.

She gave the example of the southern underground railroad, which helped enslaved people find freedom in Mexico. She said the Quaker and other abolitionist communities would be celebrated as examples of the struggle for freedom.

She also mentioned partnering with exhibits in Nigeria to explore the origins of the triangle slave trade.

“You can’t celebrate the end unless you understand the beginning,” Sims said.

Lee said she’s asking Juneteenth organizations from across the United States to contribute items they’d like to be displayed in the museum.

“I expect we’re going to get a whole lot of stuff, and I’m looking forward to it.”

The museum will officially begin a national fundraising capital campaign in the spring. Organizers want to raise $30 million. Howard said roughly a third has already been raised.

He added they hope to break ground early next year. They plan to release detailed designs shortly after Jan. 1..

The city is already developing the Evans & Rosedale Urban Village just north of the museum site, which is expected to have 292 apartments and 20 town homes.

Nettles said both projects should support each other, and was very happy about uptick of development in the area.