The Center’s Expansion: Fulfilling Our Founders’ Vision

Make Your Mark

The Center is expanding to realize our founders’ vision of becoming a nationally recognized educator and convener for civil and human rights. We are building two new wings, adding 24,000 square feet to serve our community as a museum and cultural hub that preserves the truth of history and inspires changemakers to protect rights. 

With your support, we can achieve this dream. Contribute to our Fulfilling the Vision campaign and help us build our future. With a gift, we will recognize you on our beautiful mosaic donor wall in our new museum.   

Contribution Levels:

MAKE A ONE-TIME GIFT 

MAKE A MULTI-YEAR PLEDGE

 

The Center's Expansion: Fulfilling Our Founders' Vision

Construction is underway. The Center will remain open through 2024 

Our two-wing, 24,000-square-foot expansion includes: 

  • An immersive Family Gallery for children under 12.
  • An Activation Lab where visitors can map out action plans on issues they care about.
  • A gallery on the Reconstruction Era, a watershed chapter of US history.
  • Updates to our permanent civil and human rights exhibits plus a redesigned gallery to display the papers and artifacts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • State-of-the-art classrooms and event space for school groups, meetings, and performances.
  • A café for visitors to reflect on their Center experience.

Our Expansion Partners

DaVinci Development

Role: Project Developer Manager

DaVinci Development Collaborative, LLC (DaVinci) is a boutique real estate advisory firm located in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 2014, DaVinci’s underlying thesis is to take real estate development to a more thoughtful and disciplined platform. We are committed to solving complex real estate challenges and to empowering teams to create value and enrich the communities served by our clients. DaVinci believes that with vision, buildings, and the spaces they create have the power to help communities thrive today – and flourish tomorrow. 

We guide clients on a proven, customizable, phase-gate process to turn ideas into market-based strategies through our Development Advisory and our Development Management services. We provide oversight for the lifespan of a project from vision to implementation to execution through a rigorous Investment Check Points process to consistently deliver projects on time and budget.

ATELIER BRÜCKNER

Role: Exhibition Design 

ATELIER BRÜCKNER is one of the worldwide leaders in exhibition design. Founded in 1997, the office—based in Stuttgart and Seoul—is run by Shirin Brückner, Prof. Eberhard Schlag, Britta Nagel and René Walkenhorst. 120 employees contribute to the development of narrative spaces for museums, brand and visitor centers. We focus on communicating content in an emotional way with long-lasting experience. Among our current large-scale projects are the Museum of the Future in Dubai and the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Notable past projects include the Visitor Centre of the European Parliament opened in Brussels. Opened in 2011, the exhibition is provided in 24 languages.

Solomon Group

Role: Exhibit Fabrication

Solomon Group is home to passionate teams of creators, technologists, producers, and fabricators of experience who thrive on the complexity of delivering what’s next.

We leverage our range and talent to produce experiences that matter. From the biggest ephemeral live moments to sustainable timeless exhibitions, we turn artistic vision into cultural realities.

Juneau Construction Company

Role: Building Construction

Juneau Construction Company was founded in 1997 by husband-wife team, Les and Nancy Juneau. With offices in Atlanta, Miami and Tampa, Juneau performs as Construction Managers, Design-Builders and General Contractors on both public and private project types across the Southeast. Juneau works with clients who align with our mission, core purpose and values to provide best in class projects in the Commercial, Higher Education, Hospitality, Multifamily, Mixed-Use, and Student Housing markets, along with a client experience that builds relationships and fosters partnerships where clients want to work with Juneau again and again. Juneau Construction Company has earned the #2 spot on Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Top Woman-Owned firm list, along with spots on their top Private Companies and Top Commercial Contractors lists. Juneau is also nationally recognized by ENR and BD+C as a Top General Contractor.

At Juneau our mission is simple, yet profound: we strive to be best in class, while promoting family, teamwork and a dedication to construction excellence. Our firm is energetic and passionate about solving the most difficult challenges in new and exciting ways, while at the same time building projects that leave every single community we work in better than we found them.

Perkins&Will

Role: Architect

At Perkins&Will, our goal is to design places that make a positive difference in the world. That’s why people are at the heart of everything we do. Our work impacts lives through sustainability, resilience, well-being, diversity, inclusion, and research. There’s so much more to architecture than what meets the eye. It has the power to inspire joy, uplift lives, and strengthen the spirit of a community. Every place has it’s own story. We work with cultural institutions to tell their singular stories and shape experiences that promote understanding of self, appreciation of community, and empathy for others.