Work to stabilize the historic Edwin M. Stanton High School in LaVilla could soon resume after an $143,710 appropriation from the Jacksonville City Council. | Mike Mendenhall, Jacksonville Today
Published on May 13, 2026 at 4:35 pm
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The Jacksonville City Council has voted to restore access to city grant funding for the nonprofit working to restore the historic Stanton school building in LaVilla.
City lawmakers voted 16-2 to approved Ordinance 2026-0260 on Tuesday night, reappropriating $143,710 for repairs to the 109-year-old structure — the second half of a $300,000 city investment first approved in 2021.
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Council member Rahman Johnson, who introduced the bill, says Historic Stanton Inc. will use the money to stabilize the roof, restore electrical service, complete exterior brick and masonry work and first floor remediation on the historic three-story schoolhouse at 521 W. Ashley St. in Downtown.
“I want to save the building,” Johnson told Jacksonville Today on Monday before the vote. “There are so many generations of this community that the intersection of what they’ve done has passed through the building. And I think it’s a wonderful piece of history to not just save and protect, but I also don’t want to end up with demolition by neglect. And that is what’s going to happen if we don’t go in and ensure the building is taken care of.”
Stanton’s history and future
The Stanton School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and is considered Florida’s first official school for African Americans. It originally opened in 1869, named for General Edwin McMasters Stanton, an abolitionist and secretary of war under President Lincoln during the Civil War.
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It’s famous alumni include James Weldon Johnson, the Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing lyricist and the Stanton High School’s principal from 1894 to 1902.
In 2021, then-council member Reggie Gaffney Sr. drafted the first legislation to authorize the money, and a grant agreement executed in 2022 gave the nonprofit $156,290.
Johnson said the latest bill was necessary to reactivate the remaining half of the grant money for Historic Stanton Inc. The money had been returned to the city’s reserves after delays in the project that were not resolved before the agreement with the city expired in October 2025.
The legislation passed Tuesday waives a section of the ordinance code to allow Historic Stanton to get 25% of the money up front. Typically, the city awards development project funding as a reimbursement after the work is completed.
It also authorizes the Mayor’s Office to negotiate and execute a grant agreement between the city and the nonprofit that will be subject to oversight by the Grants and Contract Compliance Division of the city’s Finance Department.
Council President Kevin Carrico and member Rory Diamond were the two no votes Tuesday night. Council member Terrance Freeman was absent for the vote.
Johnson says the nonprofit is on better footing.
Historic Stanton, governed by a 10-member board led by chair County Judge James A. Ruth, has plans to eventually transform the school building into a cultural facility — a mixed-use entertainment venue, gallery and educational space.
According to its website, Historic Stanton has retained architect Ray Evans with iDesign Architectural Services Inc. to create the venue with a museum and gallery, gift shop and office and STEM education spaces.
“But we won’t be able to do any of those things if we don’t have a working roof and the building is falling apart,” Johnson said.
The council member says he intends to seek more city dollars in the future to complete the work faster. He says he’s had a preliminary talk with Downtown Investment Authority CEO Colin Tarbert about the agency’s interest in helping restore the property.
The DIA has been negotiating multimillion-dollar incentive deals in LaVilla and the adjacent North Core for the last decade, including Pearl Square, Gateway Jax Inc.’s $750 million project; the University of Florida’s proposed $345 million graduate campus and Florida Semiconductor Institute; and several housing and infill development projects.
