City helps fund park at Latta House site

City officials have set aside $65,000 to help redevelop the site of the former Latta House.

A January 2007 fire destroyed what was left of the school and orphanage for freed slaves was founded in the late 1800s by Rev. Morgan Latta, a former slave and one of Shaw University's first graduates.

Officials decided to convert the 2-acre site off Oberlin Road into a park, and the city approved spending $15,000 on an archaeological survey and dig of the site. The Parks and Recreation Department allocated another $50,000 to help draw up a master plan for the park.