Proposed Slavery Museum Gets $1M Boost From City

FREDERICKSBURNG, VA-City Council officials have approved a $1 million loan for a proposed national slavery museum, which will cost an estimated $100 to $200 million to construct. Former Virginia Governor L. Douglas Wilder is spearheading the project and estimates that groundbreaking could take place as early as 2003. The city won out over Richmond as the museum’s designated location last year.

Development plans are in the beginning stages but the history and art facility would sit on a 38-acre parcel along the Rappahannock River that has been donated by the developer of the massive 2,100-acre Celebrate Virginia tourism and commercial planned community. The council created a special 411-acre tax district–encompassing the museum’s designated space–which will serve to reimburse the city for the funds. Museum organizers plan to establish a project office by September of this year and an advisory board of museum experts, scholars and celebrities will also be put into place.