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Civil War Museum breaks ground on Tredegar site

Posted at 10:44 AM, Aug 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-15 10:44:53-04

RICHMOND, Va. — Fresh off selling one of its downtown properties to VCU, a local museum is ready to bring a $25 million addition to the riverfront.

The American Civil War Museum broke ground Monday on its new 29,000-square-foot facility at Historic Tredegar.

The project first was announced in 2013, coinciding with the merger of the American Civil War Center and the Museum of the Confederacy. It’s part of a $48 million expansion for the museum, $39 million of which has been raised from donors.

The new facility is slated to be complete in early 2019.

Monday’s ceremony follows the organization’s sale this summer of its building and part of its land at 1201 E. Clay St. to VCU for $6.25 million. VCU Health will lease the building to the ACWM for two years, until the completion of the Tredegar facility. After that, VCU will consider the 31,000-square-foot building as a possible training or administrative space.

ACWM President S. Waite Rawls said the museum waited for the building to sell before breaking ground.

At Monday’s groundbreaking, museum CEO Christy Coleman thanked foundations and corporate donors for contributing to the project. That list includes the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, Robins Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Gray Foundation and Cabell Foundation. Altria, BB&T and Union Bank were some of the corporate donors.

Also in attendance Monday were Mayor Levar Stoney and U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA 4th district).

“As the capital of this great state, we stand as the center of all things arts, history and culture in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and with that comes a great responsibility,” Stoney said.

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