05 Dec 2018
American Bible Society Faith and Liberty Discovery Centre begins construction
BY Luke Cloherty
A new US$60m (€52.6m, £46.8m) religious attraction created by the American Bible Society is now under construction and is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors when it opens in 2020.
The Faith and Liberty Discover Centre in Philadelphia, US – where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 – will aim to draw a link between the city, the founding of the US, the modern day country and the Holy Bible.
The 40,000sq ft (3,716sq m) religious attraction will include an innovation and education centre, five galleries and an immersive 3D theatre, as well as a 9,000sq ft (836sq m) glass lobby and a 2-storey sculpture of three intertwined surfaces representing the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and the Bible.
The galleries will be created by US firm Local Projects and the museum's content is being devised by a diverse team of historians, religious experts and legal scholars from different religions and countries.
American Bible Society president and CEO Roy Peterson said: "We want the Faith and Liberty Discovery Centre to be a place that unites people, shows how faith has always played a role in our nation and helps visitors consider what difference faith can make in our lives today."
The museum will create a number of jobs for Philadelphians, including 540 temporary ones from construction and around 60 permanent museum staff.
The development has been projected to generate US$110m (€97m, £86.5m) in economic impact, according to economic analysis firm Econsult Solutions.
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