Third Racial history Museum for DC

The Washington Times reports:

The Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents [announced on January 30th] that a new museum dedicated to black history will be built near the Washington Monument within the next 10 years.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture will occupy a 5-acre plot across the street from the National Museum of American History on Constitution Avenue Northwest in the District.

"We believe that we picked the best possible site," said Roger W. Sant, chairman of the regents' executive committee, noting the proposed museum's proximity to one of the Mall's most recognized landmarks. "The Mall is a scenic place for all Americans ... and we think that it would be appropriate to be there."

Mr. Sant promised that the design process for the museum -- whose estimated cost is between $300 million and $350 million -- would be sensitive to its location on the increasingly crowded Mall.

...

Half of the expected $300 million cost of the black-history museum is to be provided by private contributions and the other half by the federal government.

This will be DC's third race-based Smithsonian museum after the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture and the National Museum of the American Indian.

I wish I had $150 million burning a hole in my pocket.

Technorati Tags: DC, Race, Multiculturalism