Times-Dispatch: Slavery Museum Faces Tax Sale

The future of a proposed museum in Fredericksburg devoted to the history of slavery is in jeopardy, according to a report published in the Richmond Times-Disptach. The museum owes more than $140,000 in property taxes and penalties. If the taxes are not paid by Dec. 31, then the City of Fredericksburg can begin a process which could end up with the museum's 38 acres sold at a tax sale. 

Real estate taxes have not been paid on the property for more than two years, and fundraising efforts have ground to a halt. Two fundraising organizations for the museum are no longer authorized to solicit funds in Virginia.

The project attracted national attention when actor and comedian Bill Cosby lent his voice to an effort to raise $200 million for the construction of the museum.

Two years ago, on June 10, 2008, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, who was heading up the project, appeared before the Fredericksburg City Council to ask that the property be exempted from property taxes, but his request was denied by the Council on June 24, 2008, by a vote of 6-1.