African American Museum in Philadelphia moving after nearly 50 years

The African American Museum in Philadelphia is moving to a new location right off the parkway. It's part of a bigger project to expand the Free Library of Philadelphia and build a new luxury hotel.

For nearly 50 years, the African American Museum has been in the same Arch Street building since it was founded.

Now, they're ready for an expansion to make more space for exhibits, educational programs, and storage for artifacts.

"We do believe that the traffic alone, being on the Ben Franklin Parkway, that real estate will give us more traffic, more visitors, more memberships," African American Museum board chair Sabrina Brooks said.

The museum will be rebuilt behind the Free Library's Central branch on Wood Street.

This new location will make it walkable from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Barnes Foundation, the Franklin Institute and others along Museum Row.

As the project works to revamp the block, the Family Court Building will be transformed into a 250-room upscale boutique hotel.

Local

Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.

SEPTA 39 mins ago

Gov. Shapiro orders PennDOT to flex $153 million to SEPTA to stop ‘death spiral'

Gun violence 4 hours ago

Man shot 6 times along City Ave. as girlfriend's car crashes into SEPTA bus

There isn't a timeline for when the projects will be completed, but the developers estimate it could take about five years.