A 15-member task force will make recommendations on the future use of the historic McKinney building on East Broadway in downtown Columbia.
Columbia’s city council voted Tuesday night to establish the mayor’s task force. You’ll recall that the council voted unanimously in August to purchase the $1.7-million building, which is next to Plaza tire.
Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe says the McKinney building has commemorated the social, educational, religious and civic life of Columbia’s African-American population for decades. Count Basie performed in that building years ago. Columbia’s city council packet indicates some in the community want to see a black business incubator there, while others want to see a museum dedicated to Columbia’s black history.
The city council’s two-page report says the task force will have 15 members, including historians, experts in Columbia’s local black history, music studies and downtown business owners.
The building housed a bike shop in the 1970’s and also used to be a candy store.
