VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — An effort to cultivate and preserve more than 400 years of African American history is raising money for its new home.
Thursday morning, the Virginia African American Cultural Center (VAACC) held its second golf fundraiser at Cypress Point Country Club to raise money for its programs celebrating African American history and culture in the Commonwealth.
It's the latest fundraising event for the nonprofit as it prepares a massive capital campaign for a new facility near the intersection of Diamond Springs Road and Newtown Road, near seven historic Black neighborhoods.
Tamar Smithers, Executive Director for VAACC, says construction costs are projected between $25-30 million.
“We’re looking to launch either at the end of this year, but definitely by quarter one of 2024. Once we launch our capital campaign, it’s about 18 months to raise the funding for that," said Smithers. "Once we raise about 60-80 percent of the project, then we break ground and I would say it’s about 24 months after that to be able to fully build it.”
Right now, the VAACC is housed in a small office near the Virginia Beach Town Center, but it's quickly outgrowing the space.
Smithers, who has been Executive Director for less than a year, moved to the area from Nashville where she helped create the National Museum of African American Music.
She says renderings of the new cultural center attracted her to the job in Virginia Beach.
"With everything going on in our world and our society, we need spaces that allow for our creativity, artistic expression, education," Smithers told News 3. "Just a place for networking and people to just revel in African American contributions and the work we’ve done collectively.”
But Smithers is also adamant that people of all backgrounds feel welcome in the new space as they look to celebrate a major part of American history.
