Legends of Motown as well as political and religious figures were among the guests as ground was broken on the Motown Museum expansion project at "Hitsville" in Detroit, Michigan, on 22 September.
The planned US$50m (€45.5m, £40.4m) expansion will see additions and improvements to the West Grand Boulevard site, such as administrative and archiving functions, multi-purpose space, interactive exhibits, a small theatre/entertainment venue, recording studios and an expanded retail experience. The new 50,000sq ft (15,240sq m) site will celebrate the music and history of the revered record label, whose stable of artists from the 1960s onwards included Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and The Supremes, and Stevie Wonder.
Part of the work underway will see the development of a space called "Hitsville Next", which will link in three houses to the east of Hitsville, the original headquarters and recording studio of the record label, providing a home for the Motown Museum's youth and community programmes.
Attending the ceremony was Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr, now 89 years old, along with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senator Debbie Stabenow. Looking on were Otis Williams of The Temptations, songwriter Brian Holland and the Miracles' Claudette Robinson.
The ceremony came after the museum's fundraising campaign crossed the US$25m (€22.75m, £20.2m) threshold, helped along the way by a US$4m (€3.6m, £3.2m) gift from Berry Gordy himself earlier this month.
"I'm excited about the future of the Motown Museum and happy to support it," said Gordy Jr. "Not only will the expanded museum entertain and tell the stories of talented and creative people who succeeded against all odds, but it will also inspire and create the opportunity for people to explore their dreams the way I did mine."
Additional donations have come from a long list of benefactors that includes the Ford Motor Company, WK Kellogg Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, AARP, DTE Energy Foundation,, The Elaine & Leo Stern Foundation, Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, LEAR Corporation, William Davidson Foundation, and Hudson-Webber Foundation.
Execution of the initial expansion concepts is being led by Phil Freelon, managing director of architecture and design firm Perkins + Will, with Detroit company Hamilton Anderson Associates being the architect of record, ESI Design developing visitor experiences and exhibition design, and Detroit-based construction firm LS Brinker Company serving as construction manager.
