Almost 40 years after it closed, the newly renovated A.G. Gaston Motel in downtown Birmingham opened to the public Thursday. Visitors will be able to walk in the same steps as many historic Black figures.
Vacant since 1996, restoration efforts received a boost when President Barack Obama established the Birmingham Civil Rights Monument during his final week in office.
Since then, the city of Birmingham and the National Park Service (NPS) have been working in joint effort to restore the motel.
The city of Birmingham renovated the 1968 wing that includes a coffee shop and a gallery on the life of motel-founder A.G. Gaston. Gaston quietly contributed to the Civil Rights Movement as a businessman and entrepreneur. He put up money to bail out many civil rights protestors who were arrested, including Martin Luther King Jr.
“We see this as a real gift to the residents of Birmingham so that they have an opportunity to reconnect with their own history,” said Denise Gilmore, director of the city’s Division of Social Justice and Racial Equality.
The NPS restored the 1954 wing of the motel, which houses the motel’s 32-rooms.
One of those rooms became known as the “War Room.” This is where King and other civil rights leaders strategized plans to end segregation in Birmingham in 1963. Other prominent leaders that stayed at the motel include Nina Simone, James Brown and Aretha Franklin.
The NPS has not announced when the interior of this wing will be open for public viewing.
A courtyard bridges the two wings. Gilmore said visitors can feel the impact the motel had on civil rights.
“It’s always really moving for me to stand here and to know that I’m standing on sacred ground where people actually came and were willing to put their lives on the line,” said Gilmore.
The opening of the motel is part of Birmingham’s Forging Justice commemoration, a yearlong remembrance of 60 years since key moments from the Civil Rights Movement in the city.
The motel is open for tours on Thursdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Admission will be free until the late summer.