Ground broken for apartment complex built in honor of Opal Lee
FORT WORTH, Texas - A new and long-lasting tribute to a civil rights icon broke ground Thursday in Tarrant County.
An apartment community is being built near I-35W and Highway 170 in honor of Opal Lee, known as the grandmother of Juneteenth.
Checking out the fitness room and touring one housing complex gave Lee a good feel for its up-and-coming sister property, a community that will bear her name.
The groundbreaking is to celebrate the Fort Worth Housing Solutions development called The Opal, which will be A 339-unit, mixed income community in north Fort Worth.
Construction for the complex is underway, in the initial stages.
"I’d say The Opal is going to be, as the young people say, the bomb," Lee said.
"I said, ‘Ramon, do you think we could get Miss Opal to let us name it after her?’ So Ramon called Opal and the rest is history, but I want to tell you we do listen and I’m listening Miss Opal," said Mary-Margaret Lemons, who is the President of Fort Worth Housing Solutions.
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The audience also got to listen to Lee.
The 96-year-old civil rights pioneer’s personal awareness campaign over several decades culminated in 2021 with President Joe Biden signing into law a national Juneteenth holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S.
"It’s going to be left up to us to make this city the best in the whole wide world. People can see that we work together to get rid of these disparities," she said.
She also pointed out that safe, affordable housing is a major component of the overall message she has long preached, which involves improving life for families.
The Opal will offer half of its units at the market rate.
The other half will be available to households earning 80% or less of the area’s median income.
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It was a groundbreaking worth singing about, as reflected by the Morningside Elementary School choir.
"I’m delighted that is happening. I’m delighted they are calling it The Opal. I want to see it when it’s finished," Lee added.