International African American Museum to Top Out Construction this Week

Charleston, SC (July 8, 2020) – Successfully navigating a turbulent couple of months, construction for the new International African American Museum (IAAM) has been able to continue, allowing its development team to celebrate the topping out of construction on the building this Friday, July 10.

Providing construction management and consulting services, Cumming’s regional experts, in partnership with local MWBE firm Atlantic South Consulting, have been driving the efforts to keep the new 41,760-square-foot elevated museum on-schedule and within budget on behalf of the City of Charleston.

IAAM will contain 22,280 square feet of dynamic exhibit space, 10,175 square feet of support and research space, and 7,610 square feet of office and mechanical maintenance areas. The nearly 2.5-acre site will also feature The African Ancestors Memorial Garden which will be a place for visitors to reflect, while experiencing the lush botanic gardens, artistic cultural installations, and the large infinity fountain.

Scheduled for completion in 2022, the IAAM will be located at the site of the Old Gadsden’s Wharf, which was a major entry point for enslaved Africans arriving in the United States. The museum will present unvarnished history and culture, commemorate, and celebrate the foundational role that Africans and their descendants have played in the making of America, and highlight their connections around the world. It will include immersive, interactive exhibits for all ages and feature the Center for Family History, a leading genealogy archive that will help visitors identify their individual threads in the complex tapestry of history.

“It has been a solemn journey seeing this project continue to come to fruition, and once it is completed, the City of Charleston will be able to share this global landmark to help foster empathy, understanding, and empowerment,” said Jonathan Roberts, project manager at Cumming. “The IAAM is a vitally important cultural and historical project in which Cumming’s Charleston office is honored to play a part in bringing this to the community.”

Brownstone Construction Group, a minority-owned-firm based in South Carolina, is working in partnership with Turner Construction to build the structure serving as the construction manager-at-risk, while Moody Nolan teamed up with Pei Cobb Freed & Partners for design.