Dear Friends:
Construction is set to begin in 2021 on an exciting and important addition to our City’s landmarks. Thanks to the Lakeland City Commission’s recent charge, a history and culture center will join the already popular campus of the City’s Main Library on Lake Morton Drive.
The Lakeland History and Culture Center, to be housed with the library’s Special Collections, will offer over 1,400 square feet of exhibit space that will tell the “Lakeland Story.” Its presentations will highlight the wide range of contributions from a variety of cultures and ethnicities that built and developed Lakeland into the quilted masterpiece it is today.
The City Commission has appropriated $300,000 to start the construction of the space but finishing that space with the display cases, technology, and modular walls, as well as the content creation and implementation of exhibits that bring the space to life, will require more funding.
Opportunities exist to share the many stories that connect our community. Your donations to the Lakeland History and Culture Center allow those stories to be viewed, heard, and shared.
On behalf of the Advisory Committee who has worked to guide the process, I invite you to become a part of the story.
Can we count on you?
With Appreciation,
Gow Fields
Chair, Lakeland History and Culture Center Committee
Many stories connecting one community. The vision for this project emerged over three years ago with discussions about acquiring one location to capture and share Lakeland’s unique history.
Led by City Commissioner Phillip Walker and supported by community leaders, the idea was presented to the City Commission in 2019. The initiative received unanimous support from the commission to build an exhibit center at the city’s Main Library. An advisory committee was chartered, led by former Mayor Gow Fields, to determine what was required to make the Lakeland History and Culture Center a reality.
The Lakeland History and Culture Center is a dedicated exhibit and research space that shares inclusive stories of Lakeland in harmony with all those who have contributed, and continue to contribute, to its culturally diverse history.
Website: lakelandgov.net/culturecenter
Grants from the fund shall provide support to the City of Lakeland for the Lakeland History and Culture Center.
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