Building a dream

Jet, April 29, 2002

Champion boxer Muhammad Ali gestures during a news conference at City Hall in Louisville, KY, to unveil the design plans for the Muhammad Ali Center that will promote Ali's humanitarianism and feature exhibits from his boxing career. Among those looking on is Louisville Mayor David Armstrong (1).

The design for the $41 million center includes towering images of the sports legend and an enormous "torch" to symbolize his life and ideals. The six-story center is to have 93,000 square feet of exhibit space, galleries, classrooms, a library, cafe and theater with a surrounding plaza and amphitheater. Construction for the center, which will be built in downtown Louisville, is to start next spring with the opening in mid-2004. Lonnie Ali, the champ's wife, says the center will embody her husband's dream of creating "a place that inspires adults and children everywhere to be as great as they can be."