Doleman Black Heritage Museum reveals design of future museum in Hagerstown

The design for the future Doleman Black Heritage Museum includes symbolism tied to African American heritage, a place for communal gathering and a creative approach to a green building.

The main museum building would be five stories made with sea containers.

A moat would surround the building, symbolizing the middle passage or sea journey African slaves took across the Atlantic Ocean, Curator Wendi Perry said Monday evening.

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The $23 million project includes renovating an old Coca-Cola bottling building, constructing the main museum with the sea containers, landscaping, permits, engineering and building galleries to explain the stories behind the museum's artifacts, said Travis Price of Travis Price Architects in Washington, D.C.

Museum officials have been planning for years for a new permanent site to house the artifacts collected by the late Marguerite Doleman.

Museum Projects Director Alesia Parson told a crowd of about 100 people at the future museum site at 465 Pennsylvania Ave. that she called Price the day after watching a TV program featuring his work with sea container construction in the nation's capital.

Ultimately, it wasn't her decision to hire Price, but that of the museum's board of directors.

"You will see this rise up" to house history and education, Price said.

The interior will include a giant atrium with criss-crossing from floor to floor, he said.

Price estimated it would take about 24 sea containers, reused, to build the main museum building. They are "super insulated" with Corten steel, he said. The containers have to be well insulated to weather being stacked 20 high on ships crossing oceans, he said.

Bumpouts along the exterior are expected to feature digital imagery, another way to draw people's eyes to the museum, he said.

Janice Kelsh, the museum's secretary, said the design looks like a "little village" motorists will come across as they drive from Jonathan Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.

The design will make people want to visit the museum and draw people to Hagerstown, said Kelsh, 75, who grew up in and still lives in the neighborhood.

The Rev. Don Marbury, senior pastor at Ebenezer AME Church, called the design "breathtaking" upon seeing it for the first time Monday evening.

Future steps for Black history museum

Marbury lead a blessing for the museum as he and others placed their hands on the side of the brick building that used to house a Coca-Cola plant.

The design would renovate the old building into an event venue and gallery for Black artists, Parson said. Promotional material for the museum also shows the possibility of a cafe in that building.

The sea container building for the main museum would be on the back of the neighboring lot and have a park in front of the museum, Perry said.

The neighboring lot is vacant along Pennsylvania Avenue with some small structures in the back that will need to be demolished, Price said.

Price said he's hopeful a groundbreaking could occur next spring or summer, depending on whether a substantial portion of the $23 million has been raised.

Tax deductible donations for the museum can be made through the museum's website or by mailing a check or money order made out to DBHM, 33-35 W. Washington St., 2nd Floor - Rm 210, Hagerstown, MD 21740.

Asked how much money had been raised toward the $23 million, Parson referred to $563,000 earmarked for the museum in the Senate Appropriations Committee's proposed annual funding legislation for fiscal 2023.

Dolemans' mission to share Black history

The Rev. Robert Burnett, assistant pastor with Ebenezer AME, told the crowd gathered outside the former Coca-Cola building that "Charles and Marguerite Doleman had a dream to preserve African American history in the community."

It has taken time, effort and even their home to plant the seed for that dream, Burnett said.

Marguerite collected and displayed artifacts in her home.

The museum suspended visitation in the mid 2010s when the home was being renovated. A mobile exhibit continued the museum's efforts while efforts were made to find a permanent home.

The museum has been leasing temporary exhibit space from the Washington County government at 33-35 W. Washington St., for a nominal price, since late 2019.

At the time of the grand opening in the temporary space, Parson said it displayed about 5% of the museum's collection.

A state Community Legacy grant awarded to the city by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development will pay for the architectural/engineering plan, according to a previous museum news release.

Kathy Maher, the city's director of planning and code administration, said Monday night the grant also will pay off the remaining loan the city provided for the museum to secure the new site. The city is in the process of getting that money from the state, she said.

The city loaned the museum nonprofit $120,000 to secure the site for the museum's future home.

Among the dignitaries at the design unveiling was Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wes Moore.