MADISON, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) -- A new idea for how to fund a state-of-the-art Black business center in South Madison is being brought to the table.  

In early July, Dane County announced $100,000 in seed money for the project to be modeled in part after the Sherman Phoenix in Milwaukee and Madison's American Family Insurance Dream Bank.  

Dane County District 14 Supervisor Anthony Gray likes the idea of using modern reparations for the hub.  He says the city could follow Asheville, North Carolina’s lead.  Its city council voted in favor of using tax payer money to support black programs and initiatives.

"I'm less concerned about how what you call it, I think reparation is a wonderful idea and I support it, but I know it is a controversial idea, so whether you call it reparations, whether you call it community investment,  whether you call it proper investment in communities that have been in disinvested in, I'm less concerned about what you call label it,  and i’m more concerned that real resources, thought and effort go into designing where you live, work and play."

For now, Dane County funding will support a one-year project planner who will complete a site-selection study and look into anchor businesses for proposed locations.

One of those locations, a vacant former bowling alley, now owned by Dane County on Park Street, just behind the Urban League.  Madison Black Chamber of Commerce President Camille Carter hopes if an anchor tenant can be found, this could be a viable location.

"This building is near everything, when you look at the accessibility of Park Street, the accessibility to the Beltline, it’s a prime location for all parts of town to connect, intersect here," she said.

Urban League of Madison President and CEO Dr. Ruben Anthony would love the site to be so close to his office.  He knows the corridor needs to feature a Black-focused future and honor its' past.

"This Park Street corridor is probably the oldest and largest African American historical enclave in the City of Madison and so we want to keep it that way, we want to improve this neighborhood," he said.