Mobile’s historic ‘Black Wall Street’ set for $11.3 million revitalization on MLK Avenue

A long-neglected corridor once known as Mobile’s “Black Wall Street” and the epicenter of business activity for Black residents during segregation is finally getting a multimillion-dollar makeover.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, formerly Davis Avenue — named after the Confederate president until it was renamed after the civil rights icon in 1986 — is the focus of a major revitalization effort backed by city, county, and federal partners.

The Mobile City Council on Tuesday approved a $11.3 million contract with Mobile-based McElhenney Construction Company LLC for a federally funded rebuild of a 1.2-mile stretch of the historic street.

The work comes as efforts, led by Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood, gain momentum to develop a civil rights and cultural heritage district – an area referred to as “The Avenue.”

“I think the city recognizes the incredible historical and cultural importance of this street,” said Jennifer Greene, director of program and project management with the City of Mobile. “We are very excited to be working side-by-side with the community, county, and Commissioner (Merceria) Ludgood to bring the street back to where it once was. We are very excited.”

The project

The MLK project includes the construction of new underground water and sewer lines, improvements to the road’s alignment, new sidewalks, a bicycle lane, on-street parking, improved drainage, new street lighting, and signals.

Said Ludgood, “When residents and visitors can safely walk, bike, and connect along the MLK corridor, it will boost foot traffic to historic sites, local businesses and the many cultural anchors along the corridor.”

The plan is to narrow the street to a two-lane road, with crosswalks and ensure it’s safe for pedestrians including children who attend The Pathway 6-8 School. The entire length is slightly more than one mile, connecting Beauregard Street at Bishop State Community College to Butchers Lane near Three Mile Creek.

The project is considered an additional phase of the original, federally funded $22 million overhaul to Broad Street which loops around downtown Mobile and connects with MLK Jr. Drive. That project was completed in 2023.

Greene said the project is expected to be under construction before year’s end, once the final piece of funding is secured from the council that oversees BP oil spill settlement fund through the Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (Restore Act). The entire project, once under construction, is expected to last 18 months.

“It’s an area changing project stabilizing the streets and giving it walkability, landscaping, and everything,” said Councilman William Carroll, who represents the area. “We not only have an opportunity to revitalize the street but anchor an entire community.”

The project is paid for with $2.1 million in RESTORE Act funds, $6.6 million through a federal grant administered through the Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), and $3 million from the Mobile Area Water & Sewer System (MAWSS). In addition, the city is spending $1.6 million to match the federal funds.

Greene said the project is similar to a “complete streets” overhaul recently underway along St. Louis Street in downtown Mobile. That $16.8 million project is also being built by McElhenney Construction.

“A complete street project prioritizes walking, biking and safe driving,” Greene said. “Underneath the road, there are a lot of things going on as it’s a very old historic district – drainage upgrades, new curb and gutter, inlets and MAWSS contributing $3 million to replace the water lines and sewer repairs.”

Heritage district

The improvements come amid a growing focus on the street, once the epicenter of Black community life and business activity during and after segregation.

It’s a city street that has drawn celebrities, both Black and white alike. Elvis Presley once performed on The Avenue. Jackie Robinson once made a memorable appearance to the Avenue in 1948, speaking before a crowd that included a 14-year-old Hank Aaron. Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald entertained in venues along The Avenue.

In an effort to highlight the past, while reorienting The Avenue’s future, the heritage district is being spearheaded by Ludgood and the Mobile County Commission.

It has already seen progress. Earlier this year, the new $1.4 million Isom Clemon Civil Rights Memorial Park was opened at the intersection of MLK and Hamilton avenues and Congress Street.

Two years ago, a library branch that once served the segregated Black community was converted into a cultural center and opened about one block from the park.

Other projects are underway including a revitalization to the 86-year-old Ace Theare into a multi-faceted building that will include a center for jazz musicians, the rehabilitation of the Dave Patton House named after a Black real estate entrepreneur from the early 1900s, and a local legacy site honoring Vernon Crawford, the city’s first Black attorney.

Additionally, housing projects are planned, and Bishop State Community College is also planning expansion projects as well.

“When all of this happens, you will have people back in the community and commerce who will come back and investment will start,” said Eric Finley, a Mobile historian whose family has deep roots in the city and in operating businesses on the Avenue.

He said the rehabilitation of the street’s infrastructure will create a new Avenue that is attractive for Generation Z – youths born between 1997-2012.

“We’ve got to get their vision and get them on board for the future so that when they come back (to Mobile), they will say, ‘I’ve got to go to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue,’” Finley said, recalling similar comments made by older generations who longed to return to Davis Avenue whenever they visited Mobile.

“I knew people who were so engrossed in that street that whenever they were about to die, they would say, ‘take me down the Avenue one more time,’” Finley said. “We’ve got to get back to that type of community.”