Museum board narrowing down design companies

The site of the planned International African American Museum remains a vacant lot eight years after Charleston Mayor Joe Riley proposed creating it, but behind the scenes, plans are moving ahead.

The board of the IAAM has been working since April to select a company for the crucial job of crafting exhibits and an interpretive design for the museum, and has created a list of seven firms that have been invited to submit detailed proposals.

The museum board is still working with limited funding, about $1.3 million, nearly all of which has come from local, state and federal grants.

With the museum expected to cost perhaps $80 million, the board is preparing for a major fundraising appeal next year.

The museum site is a vacant city-owned lot at the east end of Calhoun Street, next to the parking garage for the South Carolina Aquarium.

The Antoine Predock architectural firm of Albuquerque, N.M., and the Moody Nolan firm of Columbus, Ohio, together won the contract to design the museum building.

The museum board's next major step will be to review the proposals for exhibits and interpretive design and select three or four firms for interviews, which could take place in September.

The seven design firms that were short-listed are Amaze Design, BRC Imagination Arts and Jackson Brady Design Group, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Christopher Chadbourne & Associates, EVENT Communications, Howard + Revis Design Services and KPC Design.

Reach David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com.