From: Sam Mahone; ASCMRC, Inc.
As the New Year begins, we thank you for the blessings our organization received over the past year, and most importantly for developing the Americus Civil Rights Center / Museum project at the Colored Hospital.
As you all know, we are the recipients of two nearly $ 1 million grants from the National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Preservation Fund. These funds will be used specifically for the restoration and maintenance of the Americus Colored Hospital building. Our Grant Management Team has also applied for another grant from the NPS as we anticipate the construction costs will require double the amount we have received so far. We should expect the new round of grants to be announced in mid-March 2021. Already registered in the Georgia Historic Building Registry, we recently applied for and expect national historic recognition for the Colored Hospital.
A few months ago, the ASCMRC Grant Management Team (GMT) secured architecture services from JW Robinson and Associates after interviewing at least three companies. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the company is a fifty-year-old African American company specializing in historic building restoration. Some of these include the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and several historic buildings in the historic Auburn Avenue neighborhood, historic structures on the HBCU campus, and many more historic buildings in this state and beyond. As the main partner of the rehabilitation project, Robinson has given the ASCMRC an assurance that they will seek, identify and use the services of certified local subcontractors through a fair and equitable tendering process. It goes without saying that ASCMRC is committed to a project that is powered by the exploitation of the resources available in Americus and Sumter Counties.
As chairman, I have not missed the questions many of you have about the construction plan for the facility. Indeed, several months have passed since the grant was first announced and it is fair to assume that little progress appears to have been made. However, I can assure you that it does indeed. As the hospital is officially listed as “Historic Property”, certain mandatory procedures must be followed prior to construction. Any attempt to circumvent, reject, or circumvent these procedures runs the risk of losing NPS funds required to complete the project. These pre-emptive procedures required the services of several companies to conduct property surveys, environmental inspections and tests for lead, asbestos, leaded paints and mold. All of this required removing samples from the building and sending them to testing laboratories for evaluation. Another inspection revealed that there was a sinking at one end of the building, which necessitated a soil analysis of the samples taken and identified for moisture content. Unwanted soil is then removed by an underground drilling process and a suitable material or prop is installed to support the building. This is the preliminary work that has been done since acquiring the services of the architectural office.
A few weeks ago we presented the architectural design team with the survey data we conducted among members of the community committee … our wish-list, if you will. This survey outlined how we imagined the existing use of space in a newly designed interior. The Robinson design team then provided computer generated renderings that defined each room within the facility. It starts with an extended and open reception area, possibly in the round, upon entering the building. The three existing wings will be converted to accommodate a combined exhibition gallery “Permanent and Traveling”, a large multi-purpose area that can be reconfigured if necessary using expandable room dividers to enable numerous and varied functions. These include banquets, a warm kitchen, conferences, meeting rooms, speaker’s forums, film and theater productions, a computer lounge and an art workshop. In keeping with the illustrious history of the building’s original use as a hospital, space has been earmarked for a Colored Hospital exhibit that will appear next to a functioning Community Health Clinic to conduct health checks for residents of the county. This clinic is operated through a unique collaboration between the facility and the Phoebe-Sumter Hospital Authority. Additional space is provided by a small library named after a prominent African American educator, a gift shop, a designated meeting / conference room named by the Americus City Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, and a staff administration office with adjoining staff providing secure space Shelves / drawers for receiving and storing donated papers, documents, memorabilia and artifacts. There is a small basement on the ground floor that serves as a darkroom with benches and contains video recordings of evidence of oral history, photographic images, etc. Other drawings show innovative outdoor landscaping with an amphitheater for summer classes and outdoor performances. A ceramic tile sculpture created by local artists, a memorial garden with native plants from South Georgia, and a community vegetable garden similar to what the hospital created and used while it was running.
Due to our weekly Zoom meetings with the design team, we are close to reaching an agreement on the final drawings. Under this agreement, GMT will share these renderings with the ASCMRC committee.
Finally, we must be very grateful as we begin a new and auspicious year for the realization of this historic initiative that will benefit all citizens of Americus, Sumter County and Southwest Georgia. I cannot thank you enough for the time, ideas, energy, and support that you have given this project to accomplish the task that lies ahead. It goes without saying that without you we wouldn’t be in this place at this point. Thank you and happy new year.
Be healthy, be safe, be protected
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