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Martin Luther King Jr. ignited riots across America, including
Fort Pierce. The desegregation of schools required under
the Civil Rights Act that year was met with student riots and
protests at Fort Pierce Central High School and Dan McCarty
Middle School.
Many white-owned businesses in Lincoln Park shut down
in response to the upheaval and never returned. By the 1970s,
the rot had escalated even further. Lee, back in town after
college and a pro football career that stalled due to injuries,
recalled how the area had become too dangerous even for
the police department, which relocated to tamer territory off
South U.S. 1.
Lee said once he’d been elected to the state legislature, he
spoke with Miller about initiating a new start to reset Lincoln
Park’s direction.
And so the Restoring the Village initiative was born.
“It was Alvin who came up with the name,” Lee said. “I
wanted the churches to get involved in the effort, but they
were too divided internally. So I called on Alvin as an ordained
minister to maintain unity.”
A well-attended town hall meeting at Lincoln Park Academy
that year demonstrated the public’s thirst for change.
More than 800 residents and representatives of community
organizations attended and loudly applauded the formation
of Restoring the Village.
In the years since, the movement has strengthened and
deepened that support and major changes have resulted.
Through close collaboration between local institutions,
churches, government agencies, local businesses and residents,
the ball has begun rolling to rebirth the community
into the caring, inclusive and nurturing place it once was.
Along the way it has built achievers within the community.
According to the initiative’s website, restoringthevillage.
com, the group aims to instill self-awareness, foster community
pride, promote higher educational standards, support
local entrepreneurship and engage children in positive activities
that stress critical care core values.
CREATING INTEREST
To date, Restoring the Village’s achievements have attracted
attention from other predominantly black communities who
want to emulate the rebirth process happening in Fort Pierce.
“The Civil Rights Act of 1968 changed everything,” Lee
noted. “Along with all the good results of that legislation,
black communities lost out. Desegregation brought mixed
schools and young blacks resented losing their teachers and
their closeness to the community. Many felt lost and angry in
the new system.”
“We lost control of managing our affairs and our neighborhood,”
Miller agreed. “We used to have black cops, teachers,
leaders.”
Restoring the Village is continuing to achieve its mission
with the creation of the Lighthouse Youth Development Complex
in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club. The complex
will encompass an initial 7,500-square-foot building that will
provide a safe place for youth needing academic support,
career guidance and work readiness training.
The project will also include a six-hole golf course, a
putt-putt course, pickleball fields and meeting and special
event space. The Boys & Girls Club is partnering with Indian
River State College to develop a sound business plan for the
project, set for a site north of Avenue Q.
As its website states, Restoring the Village sees its mission
“like a garden. We water the garden often. We remove weeds,
fertilize, prune dead branches and plant new plants in order
to make our garden grow and become a beautiful place. Our
goal is to create a sense of community pride.”
The decorative gateways to Lincoln Park provide a concrete
example of the scope of the project and hopefully create
a sense of pride in residents.
The initiative’s vision still is a work in progress, but it has
received enthusiastic buy-in from community members and
local businesses.
The fruits of creating or recreating a better, more caring
community are revealed every day as the roots of the effort
dig deeper into the soil of northwest Fort Pierce.
Former state Rep. Larry Lee Jr. is
the founder of the Restoring the
Village Initiative, bringing hope to
Fort Pierce youths.
SOLOMON LEE PHOTOS
Since its founding in 2013, the Restoring the Village Initiative has harnessed the efforts of hundreds of volunteers to spruce up landscaping and paint homes
in the area. The idea is to generate a feeling of community pride among residents. In addition to volunteers who turn out for the annual cleanups, dozens of
local businesses and government agencies have sponsored the community effort. Visit restoringthevillage.com for more information and to volunteer.
The Rev. Alvin E. Miller Sr., who
grew up in Fort Pierce, joined his
friend, Lee, in this initiative aimed at
helping the Lincoln Park community.
REVITALIZATION
/restoringthevillage.com
