CHARLESTON, SC (WCBD) – The International African American Museum may not open before its January 2023 goal.
The decision to postpone the opening of the new museum was made during a board meeting on Friday morning. Leaders said they are experiencing challenges regarding the building’s temperature and humidity controls.
“Museums require extremely strict humidity controls to display the most sensitive items for long periods of time,” said Dr. Tonya Matthews, president and CEO of the International African American Museum, in a statement Friday afternoon. “This delay is necessary to ensure that the museum building achieves the conditions necessary to preserve and protect our most sensitive objects, artifacts and art.”
In the meantime, the museum said it will monitor humidity controls, “which are adequate for all currently installed objects.”
The museum hopes to reveal a new opening date in the first half of 2023.
We regret this turn of events and any inconvenience to our loyal members, patrons, and community. In making this decision, we stress the responsibility to ensure the highest level of security and preservation for our most delicate objects, art and artifacts that honor the journey of our ancestors and tell critical stories of our nation’s history,” said the Dr Matthews. .
Dr. Matthews went on to say, “We appreciate your understanding, we value your continued support and partnership, and we will persevere to ensure that this Museum upholds its mission to honor the untold stories of the African-American journey, paying homage to the African-American workforce. , resilience and ingenuity that shaped our country and our world.”
The International African American Museum is being built on the former site of Gadsden Wharf in Charleston, a place to which nearly 100,000 enslaved Africans were brought during the international slave trade.
The highly anticipated museum will give visitors the opportunity to learn about the “untold story of the African-American journey at one of America’s most sacred sites.”
After 20 years of planning, construction on the museum began in January 2020. It was scheduled to open in early 2023.
