Expansion of Voting Rights Interpretive Center step closer with downtown land deal

Plans to expand the Voting Rights Interpretive Center in downtown Selma took a major step forward with the recent purchase of six properties near the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, operated by the National Park Service (NPS), announced last week they acquired properties at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 Broad St. and 1119 Water Ave. The six properties, which constitute about .65 acres, will be the site for a $10 million interpretive education center commemorating the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches of 1965.  

With the property in hand, construction of the expanded center is scheduled to get underway early next year with completion expected ahead of the 60^th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday in March 2025, according to an NPS news release.   

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail has operated a visitor contact station at 2 Broad Street since 2011. The expansion project, prioritized for investment in President Biden’s fiscal year 2022 budget, will expand the center’s footprint and provide a state-of-the-art visitor experience with a focus on educational programming, accessibility and opportunities for the community.

The facades at 8-10 Broad St. will be retained and preserved as part of the historic streetscape where marchers trekked in 1965, according to the NPS release. 

The properties were donated to the NPS by the National Park Foundation (NPF). The NPF funding was made possible through an anonymous donor and the Fund II Foundation.   

The Foundation purchased the properties from the Alabama Department of Transportation with project assistance from the City of Selma and the Federal Highway Administration. Titles to the property moved back and forth between the ALDOT and the City of Selma to make the ultimate transfer of ownership to the NPS possible.

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The National Park Foundation purchased the properties because federal law prohibits the National Park Service from purchasing property directly.

“This acquisition (by the NPS) will better position us to interpret how the Selma voting rights struggle helped draw the nation closer to the promise of democracy,” said Joy G. Kinard, superintendent of Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. “We appreciate the National Park Foundation’s support in this effort, which is primed to help spur economic development and recognize the foot soldiers central to this story.”  

NPF President and CEO Will Shafroth said, “Improving the interpretive center in Selma will provide people greater access and the opportunity to better understand and appreciate the historic struggle for voting rights that unfolded in Selma during a critical moment in the civil rights movement.”   

Established in 1996, the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail commemorates, interprets and preserves the important stories of the Selma voting rights movement and the routes of the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches of 1965. The 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches are recognized as pivotal events among the campaigns for human rights in the United States. Together, the movement and marches were critical catalysts to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“Today the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail serves as an enduring testament to the continued struggle to preserve the right to vote as a fundamental cornerstone of American democracy,” the NPS release says.

The NPS has held a series of public meetings to help inform planning and design of the expanded interpretive center, according to a news NPS news release. Additional meetings and adjustments in site operations necessary to accommodate construction will be announced in the coming months.