A.G. Gaston Motel Restoration Project Gets Additional Funding

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A project to restore the iconic A.G. Gaston Motel received an added boost recently. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place fund awarded $1.1 million toward the restoration of the hotel, which in in its second phase.

The A.G. Gaston Motel is included in the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, which was established in 2017 by President Barack Obama. A multi-phase restoration began in 2019 on the 1954 wing of the hotel. This wing includes Room 30, known as the "War Room," where Project C was conceived by the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders.

Exterior restoration of the 1954 wing was completed earlier this year.

Phase 2 restoration is currently underway on the exterior of the 1968 wing and courtyard of the motel. Work is expected to be complete in early summer 2022.

“I am thankful to the Mellon Foundation for this catalytic investment to continue revitalization of the Civil Rights District,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said in a news release. The city of Birmingham has already committed $10 million to restore the motel.