Volunteer and board member Dionna Reynolds, right, shows René Antrop-González around the Emery Center in Dalton, Ga. The center is in danger of closing.
Military uniforms line the wall at the Emery Center in Dalton, Ga.An African-American cultural center that is home to more than a century of Dalton history faces closure, but a host of volunteer board members and staff are doing all they can to keep it open.
The Emery Center needs $90,000 by the end of the year to pay for city-mandated building improvements, including a new heating and air-conditioning system and a new roof. Without the repairs, city inspectors have said they may close the building.
An anonymous donor has agreed to match up to $40,000 in contributions to the museum, said facility director Curtis Rivers. And the museum has created a business plan and is working to develop a relationship with the Smithsonian.
But right now the center needs two things — time and outside financial help.
Rivers hopes the former could come this week, when he meets with Dalton City Administrator Ty Ross to ask for an extension. Rivers believes that the city will extend its end-of-the-year deadline after it sees the effort museum supporters are making toward improvement.