The Charles H. Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center is well on its way to meeting its $6 million campaign goal, officials said at a news conference Monday.
Last year, supporters raised $1.25 million. This year, as the campaign enters its second phase, its goal is to raise an additional $2 million before construction begins in 2019, said Bill Raines, a retired U.S. Army major general and the center’s chairman.
The center received a $250,000 contribution Monday from U.S. Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Diane Black and her husband, David Black.
“I met Charles Coolidge,” David Black said. “It was a real honor. It’s an honor to be here and to be a part of what’s happening here. Nothing great like this happens unless it’s for a great purpose, and it happens with great people.”
B.B. Bell, retired U.S. Army general and chairman of the center’s advisory board, said the donation is “going to go a long way towards helping us achieve our dream of opening a Medal of Honor heritage center in the state where the Medal of Honor originated, here in Chattanooga.”