The National Juneteenth Museum, a museum dedicated to Juneteenth slated to open in Fort Worth, still has a ways to go before it will break ground.

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, was declared a federal holiday in the U.S. in 2021, and commemorates the Emancipation Proclamation's enforcement and the liberation of the remainder of the enslaved both in Texas and throughout the newly reformed United States, which happened on June 19, 1865.

The museum is the brainchild of Opal Lee, the Fort Worth activist and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize nominee. It's been in the works since 2021, when it was first announced; a design was revealed in 2022.

It will be housed in a 50,000-square-foot space at the corner of Rosedale and Evans Avenue in the Historic Southside Fort Worth. Designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group with African American-owned design and build firm KAI Enterprises, the museum will contain galleries, a business incubator, food hall, Black Box flex space, and a theater.

Interior of National Juneteenth MuseumRendering by KAI Enterprises

The opening was originally targeted for June 2025. But the museum, which is expected to cost $70 million to build, has only raised $35 million so far, including donations from corporations like Bank of America, Frito-Lay North America, and BNSF Railroad.

The original timetable has been pushed to 2026, according to museum CEO Jarred Howard, who told CBS 11 that 2026 was a "really ambitious goal," but that they want the museum to be sustainable.

"So we won't put a shovel in the ground until we have the money to pay for it," he said.

Lee, who received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden in May, told BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group that it's "mind-boggling" to see it come to pass, stating that "I’ve had a little Juneteenth Museum in that very spot for almost 20 years, and to see it become a central place for discussion, collaboration, and learning seems to be the providential next step."

In a statement, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group partner Douglass Alligood called Juneteenth "not only American history – it is world history."

"Our hope is that this building will become a gateway to the Historic Southside community of Fort Worth while serving as a national and global destination," Alligood said.