FORT WORTH — Drive down East Rosedale or Evans Avenue these days and it sure looks different that it did even a few years ago.
The roads are new, the medians spruced up, and local BBQ guru Charles Stone says the changes are overdue.
"We need more of it, and more business," said Stone, who was born only a few block from the intersection 56 years ago.
The area is filled with African American history, and a new public arts project is looking to solidify that rich past.
"The thing that immediately came to mind was the role of the transit bus in the civil rights era," said Christoper Blay, a local artist.
After some four years of back and forth, Blay has finally gotten the green light from the city's Public Arts Commission board to push forward with retrofitting a 1970's bus that will serve as an interactive monument.
Sketches of the project show a hallowed-out bus that will display large aluminum panels—almost like giant plaques—of black history, both local and from across the South.
The story of Fort Worth's first black city bus driver, Willis Pace, is expected to fill one of the displays.
"Really, it's that connection that symbolizes what has always been there, and what's there now," Blay said.
Stone said the project, which is still months away from installation, will help bring a little more positive attention to the area.
"Maybe it would bring over some people that want to check out some of the history," he said.