Contracts signed to build new International African American museum in South Carolina

CHARLESTON (AP) - Crews are ready to start construction on a museum in South Carolina chronicling the history of African Americans built on the site where thousands of slaves first stepped on U.S. soil.

The Charleston City Council on Tuesday approved $60 million in contracts to begin work on the International African American Museum. The museum is scheduled to open in 2021, more than 20 years after the idea was first proposed.

The museum has raised more than $90 million from governments, companies and private entities, including a $1 million donation from petroleum company BP announced this week. A total of 2,200 entities have given money, said former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, who has supported the museum since 2000.

"It's a very exciting moment in the history of the museum and our community," Riley said shortly before Tuesday's vote, according to The Post and Courier of Charleston.

Also on Tuesday, council approved a new sister city partnership between Charleston and Freetown in Sierra Leone, the place where many African slaves left the continent.

Some people unhappy with the museum's direction were at the city council meeting, but they didn't get to speak until after the vote.

"We cannot have a museum established by the city of Charleston, giving both land and material resources, which simply sanctifies our enslavement," said Wilmot Fraser, a member of the Citizens for Excellence group.

Council member Carol Jackson said there is still time to hear all voices on the content of the museum.

"I don't think anything that we're going to decide today is going to take away from opportunities to make this museum something that we can all believe in," Jackson said at Tuesday's meeting.