Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Museums topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Black Voices Museum team presents concept and multi‑million dollar budget to Cumberland County commissioners
Summary
Consultants and architects presented concept designs, outreach results and initial cost estimates for a proposed Black Voices Museum in Fayetteville; staff said no funding ask was made at Nov. 13, and the project team will return with implementation steps and performance‑based funding requests.
A project team developing a proposed Black Voices Museum presented community engagement findings, conceptual designs and preliminary budget estimates to the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 13.
Robert Van Guez, identified in the packet as president of the Fayetteville‑Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation, said the work included interviews, vision workshops and an online survey. Lead facilitator Dov Evans summarized the outreach: nine interviews, three vision workshops with 47 participants, about 703 website visits and 51 community-survey responses. Evans said the outreach emphasized storytelling and youth programming.
Gensler architects (Roger Smith and Reggie Truxon) showed conceptual renderings and programming pillars (arts and culture, social equity, healing and education). The team presented an early budget range of $175 million to $215 million for construction with a startup budget of about $10.2 million, and flagged a projected construction start window in 2029–2031. The consultants estimated about 150,000 annual visitors and significant construction-period job creation; they noted these numbers are preliminary and subject to change.
Commissioners asked about governance and next steps. Staff said there was no formal funding request at the Nov. 13 meeting and that the project team is forming an early-development nonprofit board and pursuing foundational support. Rachel (project staff) said a nonprofit application had been submitted; turnaround was estimated at about six to 12 months depending on IRS processing.
Commissioners praised the outreach and asked for further details on board composition, nonprofit formation timeline and anticipated funding steps. The presentation concluded as an informational update; staff and the project team said they will return with more specific requests and a performance-based plan when appropriate.
