The City hosted their first Community Engagement Session regarding the McKinney Building’s future for all interested Columbia residents Thursday, March 21, 2024 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the structure itself. The Columbia City Council unanimously approved to buy the McKinney Building, a 106-year-old Black-owned structure on East Broadway once home to a jazz venue, candy store and Black community center, in Aug. 2023 for $1.7 million.
I think what’s important is that this building is not — and the project itself is not — a single entity or single group’s purpose. It’s a Columbia building. It’s a Columbia landmark. And so as a result, the public needs to be involved in the process about what direction the building should take, and what function it should serve.
— Dr. Mitchell, Professor of Law at MU
Upon entry, the two story building featured stations on various topics related to the building’s past and its possible utilization in the future: “History & Culture,” “Form, Spaces & Facility Design,” “Function, Activities & Programming” and “Access & Operations.” Visitors were recommended to fill out a survey asking questions about each of these stations, including which era of the McKinney Building the City should strive to emulate, if the facility should provide spaces for community events and what age groups the building should aim to support. Flyers with QR codes taking individuals to an online version of the survey were also posted throughout the first floor.
Alongside city officials, the Mayor’s Task Force on McKinney Building Planning, a group of 15 historians and experts in local Black history, music studies and downtown business appointed by the mayor to advise the City Council on what it should do with the McKinney Building, was present at the session.
Dr. S. David Mitchell, Professor of Law at the University of Missouri — Columbia (MU) and task force member, said it is imperative to honor the building’s history, “while also making it something relevant for the present and for tomorrow.” To achieve this, Dr. Mitchell said the community must be actively involved.
“I think what’s important is that this building is not — and the project itself is not — a single entity or single group’s purpose,” Dr. Mitchell said. “It’s a Columbia building. It’s a Columbia landmark. And so as a result, the public needs to be involved in the process about what direction the building should take, and what function it should serve.”
Dani Jennings, senior at the MU Architecture Studies Department, helped engage community members at the “Form, Spaces & Facility Design” station. Jennings said she learned about the McKinney Building early this year and was encouraged by her professor, a member of the task force, to study the building for her senior thesis project. Like Dr. Mitchell, Jennings said it is important to honor the role the building has played in the local Black community and is excited for its future.
“I think things that Columbia needs are more unhoused population assistance, and maybe [the McKinney Building] could be something like temporary housing,” Jennings said. “We can add something onto the back or something that involves childcare.”
For locals like Heather McCain, who is an Episcopal priest and educator at Smithton Middle School, the McKinney building is an integral part of the community. McCain said while she has attended worship at the neighboring Second Baptist Church since 2011, she only grew interested in the building last year as she followed the African American Heritage Trail with Multicultural Achievement Committee Scholars from across Columbia Public Schools.
“I think [the McKinney Building is] a great, great opportunity to revitalize a very meaningful and historic structure in our city that we want to preserve for future generations,” McCain said.
At the end of the day, however, Dr. Mitchell said it is necessary for the youth to be involved in the future of the McKinney Building. He said many present at the charrete are seniors and will not be as involved in much of the building’s foreseeable future.
“The youth voice needs to be very important in the process of what this building will be like,” Dr. Mitchell said. “For those who are going to be here, who are growing up here — high school students and younger — it’s going to be an important part of their development and a part of their history as Columbia residents, so I’m hoping that the voice of youth will also be reflected as much as possible.”
What do you think the future of the McKinney Building should look like? Let us know in the comments below.
