ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Dozens of St. Johns County residents headed to Tallahassee in support of building the Florida Museum of Black History in St. Augustine didn’t get very far Friday morning before they had an unexpected detour, WJXT-TV reported.
Their charter bus caught fire on I-10, just west of the Glen St. Mary exit.
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Despite some dramatic photos, the more than 50 people on the bus were able to get off safely and no one was hurt.
Greg White, who was on the bus, said the group believes one of the tires blew and caused a spark to ignite the engine.
The group was moved to a staging area and will now take several vans to Tallahassee -- with a police escort from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
They are headed to Florida’s capital to help the St. Augustine committee make a case for choosing The Nation’s Oldest City to be the home of the Black History Museum.
The top four locations -- St. Augustine, Eatonville/Orange County, Sarasota and Opa-locka -- were invited to a meeting at 9 a.m. Friday in Tallahassee to answer questions from the museum Task Force, which will make a recommendation to the governor, House and Senate.
St. Johns County was notified that its proposal is in the lead so far, with Eatonville in second.
[RELATED: Eatonville also in running for museum]
If St. Johns County is selected, the museum would possibly be built on North Homes Boulevard at the former site of Florida Memorial College, a historically Black college.
White, who is on the West Augustine CRA Steering Committee, said the museum would bring an economic boost to the community.
“In West Augustine, when Florida Memorial University was there, we had an economic development engine,” White said. “And then after Florida Memorial left, stores left, the restaurants left, the dry cleaner left, etc. So we when the museum comes, that economic development engine will be re-established in storied West Augustine.”
For St. Johns County to get this far in the consideration process, it had to show St. Augustine met certain criteria:
- Historical significance
- Appropriateness of the proposed location
- What the region’s economy looked like
Warren Clark, of Good Trouble St. Johns, said the historical significance criteria was easy.
“The first African Americans in Florida lived here. This is where it all started right here,” he said. “Beyond that, there are stories here that are so incredibly positive and little known yet in the United States and in Florida.”
A decision won’t be made Friday about the location for the museum. That choice is expected to be made at some point in June.