King-Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association (KLBNA)
By Willis Brown – President
Our King-Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood, with its geographic boundaries of I-670 – to the North, Broad Street – to the South, Taylor Avenue to the East and Jefferson avenue to the West, is full of historical structures that lends itself to the cultural heritage that this community is known. This present day, predominately African – American neighborhood with 16,000 residents is what is left of a once affluent, vibrant, self-contained, culturally endowed with a booming economy which was supported by 68,000 residents. This community in its ‘hay-day’ with its booming economy and affluent residents were able to build from the ‘ground – up’ many of the residential and commercial structures from the 1890s – 1940s. Many of these structures were named after the wives of the owners, so as to honor them for their support in these bold adventures. These structures were conceived, financed, designed, built, owned and managed by African – Americans until the on-set of the new interstate highway systems in the 1950s.
It is very disturbing to our organization to hear John Waddy (developer) stated at a public meeting on September 14, 2005 at the Lincoln Theater that;
A) He saw no historic significance in 1) keeping the Novelty Food Bar and renovating it, because he needs the space for parking, 2) documenting the Novelty Food Bar’s significance in the history of this community from the 1920s – 1970s, a 24hr. eatery, and a place were many community businessman and women met, to discuss their plans to build and finance new buildings and means to enhance social and economic community development 3) The social and economic impact it had in the community as a ‘numbers-joint.’
B) He is changing the name of a large residential landmark named the ‘Bernadine’ (SE-corner of Hamilton Avenue and Long Street), to ‘Hamilton Park Arms’ after Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the US Treasury. Dr. Jones (owner/builder) named it after his wife Bernadine Jones (they were both part of the fabric of the neighborhood, both black and both philanthropic contributors to the community).
This is a disgrace and disrespect to the African – Americans who struggled and toiled through ‘segregation’ and ‘the depression’ to build ‘out-standing’ timeless structures and creating the rich heritage of the King-Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood.
The conscious residents and members of KLBNA feel that the actions of John Waddy, is an act of ‘Cultural Genocide.’ We will not support the following;
1) Demolition of any structure in our community without discussing and documenting its past, present and future significance to our community.
2) The re-naming of any structure in our community that is named after an African-American with historic ties to our neighborhoods.
