DETROIT – Although the Motown Museum in Detroit received $10 million in federal funding, the overall cost of the museum’s redevelopment plan has increased due to inflation.
Motown Museum has been trying to expand for years and is now dealing with higher-than-anticipated costs due to inflation.
The museum got a big boost towards their now increased fundraising goal from the federal government thanks to Senator Debbie Stabenow.
“I’ll never forget when I saw that Cleveland had done the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and I thought, ‘give me a break,’ I mean, where’s the Motown museum?” Stabenow said.
Senator Stabenow pushed to have $10 million in federal funding in the latest Omnibus Bill to be set aside for Motown. The amount would push the museum over its goal of $55 million.
Read: Motown Museum expanding: See renderings of the massive space being built in Detroit
“This is something that I felt for a long time that we should be doing. I mean, this is the heart and soul as we look at, not only Detroit, but the country and the world when it relates to music,” Stabenow explained.
The money is meant to help phase three of the museum’s expansion, but with inflation still a factor this year, the goal of $55 million is no longer enough.
The cost to build the expansion has gone up to $65 million and Senator Stabenow says it just isn’t likely the federal government will step in to help again.
“So my guess is, this is what we will be able to do federally right now, it’s very significant,” she said.
In a statement today, Chairperson and CEO of the museum, Robin Terry, said in part, “We are thrilled with this significant contribution from Senator Debbie Stabenow that will allow us to move forward with our final phase of construction. As a tireless advocate of Motown Museum, we cannot truly express our gratitude for her work in championing our project.”
Terry added they’ll continue to fundraise later this year to make up the difference until construction is done.