Rosewood Courts gets kiosks

An $82,000 Heritage Preservation Grant from the city’s Economic Development Department will allow the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, or HACA, to create and install five educational kiosks at Rosewood Courts. The historic, 80-year-old apartment complex, which was the first African American public housing project in the country, is currently under renovation and the kiosks will “serve as a valuable tool to educate the public about the history of Rosewood Courts and its legacy to the East Austin community,” according to HACA’s news release. The kiosks will “provide visitors with educational details about the history of Rosewood Courts and a commemorative green space that recalls Emancipation Park, the site on which Rosewood Courts was originally built, as well as an interpretive center to connect with other African American resources across the city.” HACA Chief Operating Officer Sylvia Blanco said, “Rosewood has been a fixture of East Austin for decades. It was important to us, and to our community partners, that Rosewood’s legacy be honored and preserved.”