TACOMA, Wash — For more than a decade the abandoned Rite Aid building on Martin Luther King Jr Way has been an ugly insult to the historically black neighborhood of Hilltop.
Now it's the focus of something new.
“Hopefully the colors are bright enough to catch somebody's eye,” says Adika Bell, one of seven Hilltop artists commissioned to celebrate his neighborhood.
“These are just a handful of great leaders, people that contributed to this community,” Bell says pointing to Alberta Canada, George Riley and the founders of Sam and Terry’s Barbershop.
The artists here are helping get out the word that the community will have a say in what happens next in this space.
“It's giving black people an opportunity not to get pushed out of their neighborhood,” Bell says.
Seattle-based Forterra, a non-profit best known for its environmental conservation work, purchased the lot for $4 million.
“This is going to be approximately 300 units of attainable housing,” says Jeff Dade.
Forterra promises preservation of a different sort.
“Part of the idea is to really ensure the community has the say in maintaining 150 years of blackness in this area,” adds Dade.
Forterra has teamed up with the hyper-local nonprofit organization Fab 5 to get community input.
Here where a new light rail line is going in and rents and property taxes are skyrocketing, things are changing quickly.
"Over the past like six or seven years we've seen a lot of our youth and families pushed out of hilltop and no longer able to afford to live here,” says Chris Jordan. “So we knew we could not just stand on the sidelines and let our neighborhood deteriorate.
"We've got a big opportunity to put here something here that feeds people's body, mind and soul."
That's why Tiffanny Hammonds, whose family has been here for three generations, is here with a paintbrush.
To reclaim this space.
“I just really want to plant a seed,” she says.
Hammonds wants the art made here to remind old neighbors and new neighbors alike that her home is a special place.
With a story worth preserving.
"That Hilltop is beautiful," she says, "and Hilltop is a community and Hilltop has always been a community of flourishing vibrant people."
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