National Center for Civil and Human Rights Gets $28 Million

January 23,2012

Atlanta's economic development authority on Friday helped the oft-delayed National Center for Civil and Human Rights avoid losing millions in construction funding.

The board of Invest Atlanta -- formerly the Atlanta Development Authority -- agreed to give the downtown attraction $28.5 million in Westside tax allocation district funds. The money will help get work underway on a museum that will now be built in phases instead of all at once as originally planned.

A tax allocation district, or TAD, is funded by a portion of property taxes collected in a geographic area. Those taxes are used to fund economic development projects that benefit those geographic areas.

Cheryl Strickland, who oversees Invest Atlanta's tax allocation district programs, said the board took the step because the delays had put financing for the center, which she said would be a strong economic driver, in jeopardy. To qualify for the TAD money, the center had to be fully funded and construction started prior to June 2012.