Architect, urbanist, and project manager James Hanis brings more than 25 years of experience to his position as a design manager for Walt Disney Imagineering. At his Orlando, Florida, offices, he works with the team responsible for the Disney parks’ design and architectural conception and execution. In addition to his work on the design infrastructure of theme parks, James Hanis has served in a leading role on design projects such as the Yvonne Scarlett-Golden Cultural and Educational Center in Daytona Beach.
The $2.5 million center, which hosted its grand opening in 2013, is situated in the east coast city’s leafy residential neighborhood of Derbyshire. Sporting a neo-modern exterior featuring extensive glass wall surfaces, the center represents a rare instance of major infrastructure investment in its quiet working-class community.
The center is named in honor of Yvonne Scarlett-Golden, Daytona Beach’s first-ever African-American mayor. This achievement is even more remarkable because Ms. Scarlett-Golden grew up in that same Derbyshire neighborhood under segregation. She was the daughter of a chauffeur to Daytona’s mayor. Ms. Scarlett-Golden went on to become an educator and an activist in the field of civil rights in San Francisco before she won her hometown’s mayoral election in 2003. She passed away in 2006 at the age of 80.
