Columbia's connection to the Underground Railroad will soon have a permanent place to tell its story. Plans are underway for a 10,000-square-foot Underground Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania along the 300 block of Locust Street, with organizers aiming to open the interactive museum in 2030.

A soldout gala in September marked the latest step toward making the museum a reality, drawing 264 people to learn about the project and the $20 million capital campaign needed to fund it.

Held at Commons on Vine in Lancaster, the Quest for Freedom Gala featured musical performances by Living the Experience, the York Symphony Orchestra and pianist James Klippel. Speakers included Pulitzer Prize winner Eugene Robinson, author of "Freedom Lost, Freedom Won: A Personal History of America."

"We could not have been more pleased about the turnout," said Leroy Hopkins, board president of the Underground Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. "The size and enthusiasm of the audience indicates a significant level of interest in a project that offers material and educational benefits to our community. ... The Underground Railroad is not only a key component in cultural tourism. It also presents a model of how individuals of conscience acted to help those needing assistance ... something of benefit for all today."

Board member Mark Stewart said he's especially excited to be working with the architecture firm of Perkins&Will, a group responsible for other high-profile sites, including the Motown Museum and the extension of the Air and Space Museum on the Washington mall.

Stewart recalled meeting architect Zena Howard, who is leading the project's design team, when she toured Columbia in 2017. Learning about the town's connection to the Underground Railroad, she was adamant about supporting the creation of a local museum.

It's taken a few years to get the project off the ground, Stewart explained, as the pandemic slowed progress and as the project organizers perfected their business plan and projections. He said the agreement to purchase the properties currently located where the museum will stand should be finalized by the beginning of 2027 at the latest, and on-site work can then begin on the museum. Behind-the-scenes efforts, such as research and gathering ideas for exhibits, has been ongoing for years, he added.

He noted that the museum will be an interactive, hands-on experience for visitors, with multimedia exhibits that will tell the story of freedom seekers and the courageous Pennsylvanians who created a sophisticated network of safe houses that operated in every county in the state - an effort the museum calls the "Conspiracy of Good."

"There are not a lot of artifacts that exist from the Underground Railroad," Stewart said. "We'll be using technology that's experiential and engaging - it's sort of mind blowing - to tell the story, and because of that, we'll be changing exhibits all the time, so you can come back again and again and get a completely different experience."

He's also excited about partnering with other historic sites in the region, including the Mifflin Farm in Wrightsville and the Stevens & Smith Center for History and Democracy in Lancaster city, to provide experiences that complement each other.

Howard noted that the museum has the potential to make a deep impact on visitors and their views of history.

"Ultimately, the success of this project will not be measured by the quality of its architecture, although architecture matters, or the quality of exhibits, although interpretation matters," Howard said. "It will be measured by something larger. Did we create a place that helps people understand the pursuit of freedom, a place that honors those whose courage changed history, a place that connects communities instead of divides them, a place that strengthens Columbia and contributes to its future? Did we create a place worthy of the stories it tells? Those are the questions that matter, and those are the possibilities before us."

To learn more about the Underground Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, as well as ways to support the project, visit https://ugrrmuseumpa.org.