The Echo Theater was built in 1910. Like many theaters in the Jim Crow South, it was segregated. In 1996, it became the site of the Redneck Shop and the world’s only KKK Museum. Protests ensued, but the shop and museum were allowed to stay open.

Local minister and activist Rev. David Kennedy befriended one of the theater’s owners, Michael Burden, who lost his apartment inside the theater. Burden eventually denounced his beliefs and sold the theater to Kennedy for $1,000. Unfortunately, the other owner would not leave the premises until years later after the court ordered him to do so.

The site is now known as the Echo Project, where it will eventually evolve into a museum and diversity center. It has been designated an International Site of Conscience, a place that promotes the history of a site and “justice and a culture of human rights.”

At the moment, there is no projected date of opening.