The Museum will have a new name—Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum—and an expanded mission to teach the history of the Holocaust and advance human rights to combat prejudice, hatred, and indifference at a time when Texas leads the nation in the number of active hate groups.
The new 50,000-square-foot museum will accommodate more than 200,000 visitors a year, and more than quadruple its exhibition space.
The Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance today announced that it will build a new permanent home in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas.
The new museum will bear a new name – the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum – and an expanded mission. It will be built on property owned by the Museum near Houston Street and the DART Rail corridor on Pacific Avenue, presently a parking lot, diagonally across from the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.
“At a time when Texas leads the nation in the number of active hate groups, and the Dallas community is still healing from the July 7th attack on local law enforcement officers, the most violent and hateful act against law enforcement officers since 9/11, we believe the mission of the new Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is more important than ever,” said Museum President and CEO Mary Pat Higgins.
“The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum will become an architectural icon in downtown Dallas, engaging 21st century audiences by dramatically expanding educational programming,” said Frank Risch, Campaign co-chair. “The state-of-the-art, 50,000-square-foot museum will accommodate more than 200,000 visitors a year, half of whom will be school students. It will also more than quadruple its current exhibit space,” he said.
The new museum is being designed by Omniplan Architects and the permanent exhibition is being designed by Berenbaum Jacobs Associates, under the stewardship of Michael Berenbaum, the former Project Director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on the Washington D.C. Mall.
The new museum will be unique among the nation’s 21 Holocaust-related museums. In addition to a clear focus on the Holocaust, it will feature new exhibit galleries on human rights and American ideals. It will also feature modern, immersive and interactive content and technology along with an original boxcar used by the Nazis during the Holocaust to transport Jews and others. It will include a 250-seat theater, new classrooms, an expanded library and archive, modern technology throughout, additional staffing, and a special reflection and memorial area for visitors.
“We need a place that allows us to have a discussion about what human rights, diversity, and respect for others mean for our city today,” said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings.
The Museum has already raised two thirds of the funds it needs to start construction, which will take about two years to complete. More than $43DallasHolocaustMuseum.org or call (214) 741-7500.
