The Andrew Young Foundation is exploring a $100 million peace center in one Atlanta neighborhood to honor its famed mayor.
The foundation pitched the development idea to break ground in Vine City, a historic area surrounding the west side of the city. According to Axios, the global peace institute would reside amid Atlanta’s storied HBCU campuses and sports stadiums.
To commemorate the city’s civil rights history and Young’s legacy, the foundation has suggested an 80,000-square-foot neoclassical building. Inside, the center would host art galleries, educational spaces, a theater, and a research library.
Young, a former U.N. ambassador who turned 94 in March, was an early pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement. Before his appointment as the mayor of Atlanta in 1982, he became the first Black man elected to Congress from Georgia since the Reconstruction era. Throughout his political career, he remained a lauded public figure for his upliftment of Atlanta and marginalized communities.
Young’s personal collection of papers, awards, and art would also be on display throughout the space. The peace center would also include a domed rotunda, overlooking the historically Black neighborhood that housed legendary Atlanta natives such as Martin Luther King Jr.
To bring this idea to fruition, the organization has asked for a $2 million public investment from Invest Atlanta. The money will remove sewer pipes from underneath its desired project site, a 2.77-acre city-owned lot overlooking Rodney Cook Sr. Park. Atlanta has offered the Andrew Young Foundation a lease rate of $1 per year for a five-year term, with the option to extend for 100 years.
City leaders have welcomed the idea, but want its entire funding secured by 2032. City documents detailed that the project stands a better chance of securing philanthropic grants once construction can begin.
As the foundation continues to secure financial backing, supporters have emphasized the peace center’s mission to amplify Atlanta’s history as a place of justice and equity.
“We want to make sure that the message of inclusion, of brotherly love, friendship, all that the movement represents, continues to be reflected in that particular location,” council member Michael Julian Bond told Axios.
If approved, construction could begin as early as mid-2028, with potential completion before the end of the decade. Invest Atlanta may consider the foundation’s request at its next meeting April 16.
