The Jackson House is a topic that’s not new to Tampa Monitor. First summarized more than a year ago, an agreement was approved in July of 2025 that was characterized then as:

The gist is that the surrounding property owner will a cede 10 foot strip of land on either side of the building in exchange for either $1.2 million or vacation of certain rights of
way, including rights of way at the intersection of Twiggs Street and Nebraska Avenue, which
requires FDOT approval. If FDOT doesn’t approve the vacation by August 1, 2027, they get the cash. The funds would come from money appropriated by the CRA for improvements to the Nebraska/Twiggs intersection.

Since then the alley on the block was vacated at the request of the city. The Jackson House Foundation have held events and talked about plans moving forward.

In 2022, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) approved a $1 million grant for the restoration (not to be confused with the aforementioned CRA funds for the “intersection improvements”). As such, this Thursday staff are scheduled to provide an update on the project to the CRA Board that will among other things highlight the funding shortfall they are facing. In 2017, the foundation estimated the restoration cost would be $1 million. The current estimate for construction is $3-4 million with another $3 million in costs including artifact restoration and prior cataloging and stabilization efforts.

The foundation had initially secured $4 million of that including a highly touted $1 million from then Lightning Owner Jeff Vinik through his foundation. Additionally a $1 million dollar state grant had been awarded. Both of those now have the potential to be reduced to $250,000 each, dropping the overall funding by $1.5 million. It’s possible the state grant was a competitive grant that had a time constraint. It’s also possible it’s an artifact of the hostility of the state government towards diversity, equity and inclusion and attempts to white wash Florida history.

An additional $500,000 grant through the state to the city and a $500,000 county preservation grant remain in place. Additionally, Peter Nicholas pledged $55,000 however the current funding outline shows that donation as no longer proposed.

According to Pro Publica, the Vinik Family Foundation in 2024 had $183 million in net assets. The Tampa Monitor considered reaching out to the foundation for clarification, but the non-profit’s domain, vinikfamilyfoundation.org is currently for sale on GoDaddy.

Maybe another local sports team owner wants to step up to the plate.