Holocaust Memorial Center plans to expand in Farmington Hills

Even though the Holocaust Memorial Center is something that everyone should visit sometime in their life, it’s “not a place for children,” in Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig’s opinion.

The founder and CEO of the museum is heading up the campaign to add a children’s gallery in the museum.

“The present museum is not geared toward children under the age of 12,” Rosenzveig says. “We don’t recommend it for them because it can be so horrifying.”

The new 18,000-square-foot addition would fix that problem while still conveying the lessons of the Holocaust. The new wing is estimated to cost between $5 million and $6 million.

Fundraising to pay for the new wing will begin later this summer and construction could begin as soon as this fall. Work could be done as soon as the fall of 2009.

The Holocaust Memorial Center, founded in 1984, is the first museum of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. It moved from its original home in West Bloomfield to Farmington Hills four years ago.

The center’s new home is in an award-winning facility designed by Nuemann Smith. The striking 51,000-square-foot structure cost about $17 million to build.

Source: Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig, founder and CEO of the Holocaust Memorial Museum
Writer: Jon Zemke