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Houston’s first Hispanic archive center moves forward, renewing advocates’ hopes

by Danya Pérez
February 23, 2024

A decade after city officials identified the need for a center dedicated to the Hispanic and Latino community, the Hispanic History Research Center is finally moving forward, with early plans calling for its completion in 2026.

A 25,000-square-foot industrial site on the Turkey Bend property along Navigation is currently being retrofitted to house the research center, which will serve to archive historical collections, such as photographs, documents and film, that detail the rich history of Houston’s Hispanic and Latino community.

In December, the city signed a memorandum of understanding with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership agreeing to purchase the property at 5803 Navigation Blvd. and pay for some improvements totaling about $10 million, but only once those improvements are completed.

The agreement drew praise and concerns from community members and the sole Latino councilmember at the time, Robert Gallegos.

“I’m excited about this item on the agenda,” Gallegos said prior to the December vote. “I reached out over three years ago asking to be included in this process, being the only Latino in city council and I was told that it was premature.”

The property is part of the Buffalo Bayou East expansion, which is slated to mimic the parks and trails built along Memorial Park west of downtown, with about 15 to 20 projects planned over the next decade across the Greater East End and Fifth Ward.

The investment is coming out of a $19.5 million budget to build a Hispanic History Research Center, the first of its kind for a city that’s home to more than 2.3 million Latino or Hispanic residents, according to U.S. Census data.

“There’s a significant inequity here. Latinos are 45 percent of the population,” said David Contreras, historian and archivist for LULAC – the League of United Latin American Citizens – who has advocated for the project for over a decade.

The agreement calls for the city to receive a finished unit, or building, with an open interior to be retrofitted as needed, said John Middleton, Houston Public Library’s assistant director of spaces.

“If things go as planned, and plans are very tentative, we’ll see this facility completed in early 2026,” Middleton said.

The Hispanic History Research Center made its first appearance in the city of Houston’s 2020-2024 capital improvement plan with an allocation of about $1.5 million. The next year, for the 2021-2025 capital improvement plan, this budget item grew to $19.5 million.

This project was originally considered as part of the 2017 bond issue that aimed to allocate about $123 million for Houston Public Library projects.

But years passed since plans for the center were disclosed, and in lieu of a public announcement of the project’s status, community leaders became concerned that it was not being prioritized.

Gallegos and Contreras were among those who voiced frustration over what they said was a lack of transparency on the project. Their persistent requests for information and meetings with HPL officials went unanswered, they said.

Things have changed at City Hall since that December decision, which was one of Gallegos’ last as councilman. Council member Karla Cisneros’ term also came to an end shortly after this approval. She represented District H on the East Side where the project is set to be housed.

November’s election gave way to three Latino newcomers, Mario Castillo, who represents District H, Joaquin Martinez representing District I, and Julian Ramirez serving as an at-large member.

The three councilmen made it their mission to work together to see projects that impact the Latino community move forward.

“We are walking lock step together,” Martinez said. “We are here for something bigger than our individual districts or individual positions. This is a very unique space that we are in where we have a voice, a stronger use, and we’re going to use that.”