The Kansas African American Museum will move to a larger and more accessible building.
The museum, currently located by the Sedgwick County Jail, will move to the former Sunflower Bank building near First and Main.
The museum has been interested in moving from the former Calvary Baptist Church in recent years after the Sedgwick County Jail expanded around the building.
A release by the museum said the new building will have twice the amount of space, allowing staff to expand programming.
“These stories of challenges and triumphs in everyday life provide people of all ages with hope and inspiration that they too can achieve success in life, great and small,” Denise Sherman, the museum’s executive director, said in the release. “These stories told through a historical archive … help Kansas neighborhoods, communities, and cities to gain perspective for current challenges by seeking an understanding of past challenges.”
The museum said it has raised half of its $6 million goal for the move with several corporate and individual donations, as well as financing from the Wallace Foundation, William T. Kemper Foundation and the Charitable Foundation.
The museum is celebrating its 25-year anniversary.
