Months after the presentation of the $11.5 million African American Cultural Center and Museum Complex, the project is moving into phase one — securing funding, beginning the land purchase process and leasing a proof-of-concept space.
The lease signed for a location connected to Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Sherbondy Hill will house a small portion of the museum, renter-friendly office spaces and meeting rooms. Educational programs, which will take place this summer during a soft opening, will range from investment and trading to financial literacy.
“We’re going to be opening to the public in a few months,” said N.J. Akbar, administrative lead of The Legacy Building Project, “and that will be our proof of concept to show what we can do in a smaller space that will lead us into the need for that bigger space.”
The planned African American Cultural Center and Museum Complex is part of a broader effort to repair the lasting economic and cultural damage caused by construction of the Innerbelt, which displaced hundreds of Black families and businesses. Spearheaded by The Legacy Building Project, a suborganization of the Akron Rites of Passage Institute, the initiative aims to restore community identity while creating new pathways for education, entrepreneurship and generational wealth.
Terrence Shelton, the co-president of the Akron Rites of Passage Institute and co-chair of The Legacy Building Project taskforce, wants to create a space “that we can leave in this community for Blacks to actually be able to do this economic empowerment and improvement and have long-term planning for sustainability.”
The cultural center and museum complex will be located on Rhodes Avenue, near Berry Avenue and West Bartges Street. The project, a part of the Akron Innerbelt Master Plan, is projected to begin construction in 2027. The building will be solar-powered by kinetic sidewalks and include a hydroponic garden.
Three phases of this project and funding
The organization launched one ongoing campaign and is developing another campaign:
- A $20 million capital campaign emphasizing donations from public-private funders (being developed)
- Legacy’s 3,000 Capital Fundraising Campaign (launched in 2021) — to help fund the building and initial parts of phase one. The plan specifically calls for people age 55 and older to contribute $100 (or more) to help launch the initiative. Shelton said The Legacy Building Project received buy-ins from former State Sen. Vernon Sykes and Rep. Veronica Sims, who were the first two $100 donors in the ongoing campaign.
Since organizers presented at a Ward 3 meeting in mid-January, The Legacy Building Project has received $400,000 from the State of Ohio.
Phase one of the project is pre-construction, followed by groundbreaking and construction (phase two) and leasing space to vendors and opening (phase three).
“Now, the support is there,” Shelton said. “The momentum is building and gaining. We have fleshed out the idea of what the center could look like through our architectural rendering.”
Restoring community and creating generational wealth
“This [cultural center] is birthed out of the pain that this community has suffered,” Shelton said. “As a result of this Innerbelt, that is a highway to nowhere that everybody is talking about, and the city is apologizing for building this and causing this harm to our community.”
“We’re encouraging them in a very strong, aggressive, intentional way to make good on that.”
The Legacy Building Project hopes to bring generational wealth back into the community —
starting with making community members homeowners. Shelton believes incentives will connect individuals with builders or help them raise money to build homes.
Said Shelton: “If we had had the opportunity to get the economic resources from an equitable position, and our homeowners had the opportunity to really get home loans and really build, this community could have contributed very significantly to the growth of Akron, as opposed to now.”
