After receiving City Council approval for a $143,710 grant, a nonprofit hoping to revive the former Downtown Jacksonville high school is set to progress with rehabilitation and redevelopment.
With 16-2 vote May 12, Council approved Ordinance 2026-0260, which provides the grant to Historic Stanton Inc. to renovate the Old Stanton High School at 521 W. Ashley St. Council President Kevin Carrico and member Rory Diamond cast the no votes, and member Terrance Freeman was absnet.
The nonprofit plans to redevelop the building into a museum, classrooms, office space and more.
Funding for the space is not newly appropriated but rather is part of the city’s second distribution to Historic Stanton. Council approved a total contribution of $300,000 for the project in 2021, distributing the first $156,290 in 2022.
The grant approved by Council will help finance work on the building’s electrical systems, exterior and interior.
According to the legislation approved in 2021, the full cost of the project is $9.65 million.
The money moving through Council is the final planned distribution from the city. Up to 25% of the grant will come as an advance payment, while the remaining funds will be distributed after the advance has been spent.
Council member Rahman Johnson, who introduced the bill, said during committee meetings he expects development to move forward on the project with the funding reappropriated by Council.
“I believe that they’re working toward not just getting the building shored up but to getting it open so it not only generates revenue but gives people a chance to walk through history in Jacksonville,” he said.
The building, which opened for classes in 1917, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The school was named after Edwin M. Stanton, President Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of war, and was the only secondary school for Black students in Duval County when it opened, according to its nomination form for the national register.