KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A $30 million fundraising effort is underway to bring a Black history museum to downtown Kalamazoo.
Plans for the museum were announced by the Rev. William Stein and state Representative Julie Rogers at a media briefing Monday. The project would entail either buying land and building on it or purchasing and converting an existing two- or three-story structure in downtown Kalamazoo.
In addition to exhibits reflecting Kalamazoo and U.S. Black history, plans for the proposed museum would include a performance arts space, a movie theater to show first-run and historic films, a chapel for religious services for all denominations and a free and open children’s interactive play area and classroom learning lab.
It would also be home to a “soul food café,” conference rooms for meetings and lectures and an onsite gift shop.
Stein will lead the effort to create the Kalamazoo Black History Museum. The pastor also co-founded the Broncos Kitchen Foundation, a hunger-relief charity that feeds food-insecure college students in Kalamazoo. Rogers is an honorary member of the new non-profit’s board.
Stein says Broncos Kitchen Foundation will serve as the initial fiduciary arm for the proposed museum project and is now to begin accepting donations toward the museum.
Stein says the goal is to educate people of all backgrounds about African American culture and heritage. He said the nonprofit wants the museum to showcase not only black history, but key figures from Kalamazoo, such as the city’s first Black mayor, Gilbert Bradley Jr., and celebrities like Terry Crews, who played football at Western Michigan University, and Derek Jeter, who graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School.
Project organizers hope to reach their $30 million fundraising goal through a combination of small private donations, larger donations from other foundations as well as local, state and federal grants.
Stein said locations for the museum have been scouted, and board members have already started reaching out to organizations and property owners in hopes of securing land to build on or a building to renovate. The goal is to have a museum open by the Juneteenth holiday on June 19, 2024.
