The Grimke School was one of the first public schools for African Americans in D.C. after the Civil War.

Now, the 132-year-old building is finally being developed, after years of sitting vacant. Alongside new condos, office space, retail, and artist studios, the space will also serve as a new home for the African American Civil War Memorial Museum.

Visitors “will be able to understand how all these different dots in history are connected,” says Edwin Gasaway, operations manager for the museum. The site, for example, is located just a few blocks from where Camp Barker, a refugee camp for African Americans during the Civil War, once stood. The move means the museum will be housed in a building where newly freed slaves once exercised their freedom after the Civil War, Gasaway says.

The African American Civil War Memorial Museum was designed to highlight the contributions of members of the United States Colored Troops who fought in the Civil War. The museum’s mission is to “correct a great wrong in history that largely ignored the enormous contributions of the 209,145 members of the United States Colored Troops in ending slavery and keeping America united under one flag,” per the website.

The museum, which was founded in 1998, was originally across the street from the African American Civil War Memorial at at 11th and U streets NW. The Grimke School is right nearby, just south of U Street on Vermont Avenue NW.

The $45 million project, which had a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 17, is the culmination of a long series of fits and starts. It includes the redevelopment of the historic building, along with a neighboring gymnasium and parking lot.

The African American Civil War Memorial Museum officially signed the 99-year lease for the space in October of last year. The expansion will increase the museum’s size from 800 square feet—Gasaway calls their current home “quaint”—to at least 10,000 square feet.

The larger space will accommodate three new full-sized galleries, including one about women in the Civil War, another about the voting legacy of former slaves turned veterans, and an exhibit that explores the story of former first lady Michelle Obama’s ancestors, who fought in the Civil War. It will also feature a new kiosk for visitors to search through all of the names of the 209,145 members who served in the United States Colored Troops on the museum’s memorial plaque.

Phase one of the project is scheduled to be completed by fall 2020, Gasaway says. During the renovation period, the museum will remain open to visitors at its current location until phase two begins next fall. While artifacts and exhibits are moved into the new space at that time, the museum still plans to continue light programming, such as talks and lectures, Gasaway says. The museum plans to open in early 2021.

When it does, guests will be greeted by an 8-foot-tall statue of President Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation in the front of the new ceremonial entrance on Vermont Avenue.