The old Petersburg public library building on Sycamore Street, one of the first Petersburg institutions to integrate in 1960, is planning to become an African-American history museum and storage facility for important city documents.
Sandy Graham became involved with the project after the city vacated the property and moved to its new public library. His concept was an adaptive re-use of the building as both a museum and archival storage facility. Sandy is a founder and member of the board of the McKenney Foundation, a nonprofit created to develop the museum project, and believes the McKenney Building “couldn’t be more perfect for what we want to do.” He is optimistic that the project will succeed and, depending on funding, could be completed as early as 2024.
To read more about the plans for the old Petersburg library, click here.