After months of construction, the Black Archives of Mid-America&rsquo;s new headquarters is just about complete. Only the finishing touches to the interior remain.</p><p> I recently toured the building with Barbara Peterson, chairwoman of the board of the Black Archives of Mid-America, and R. Crosby Kemper III, chief executive of the Kansas City Public Library, which is partnering with the archives. </p><p>First, I saw the public entrance, where visitors can enter either the archives or the Full Employment Council. The renovations will provide 25,000 square feet of space in the building at a cost of $5.3 million. </p><p>The first floor will have a large exhibit gallery with about 1,700 square feet of space. </p><p>The archives plans to move in sometime in the spring. The facility is expected to open to the public early next fall.</p><p>The second floor includes a glass-enclosed boardroom, offices for the staff and 1,700 square feet of storage space.</p><p>Kemper said the headquarters is a fitting tribute to archives founder Horace M. Peterson. It was Peterson&rsquo;s dream to expand from the old location, a former firehouse at 2033 Vine St. </p><p>&ldquo;This is sort of the fruition of his vision,&rdquo; Kemper said. </p><p>The building itself holds historic significance and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. </p><p>In August 2006, Jay Nixon, then Missouri attorney general and now governor, held a public hearing on the future of the archives. At one point, its board had dwindled to one person. Now the archives has a newly reconstituted board led by Peterson. </p><p>&ldquo;Barbara deserves a huge amount of credit,&rdquo; Kemper said. &ldquo;She helped put together a new board that completely revamped the whole structure of the archives. And Barbara has overseen the construction.&rdquo;</p><p>The portion of the building that will be leased by the Full Employment Council includes room for computer labs. The building will have space to lease and for community meetings. </p><p>&ldquo;We want to encourage the community to use the building,&rdquo; Peterson said. &ldquo;We want to have kids coming in using the computers all the time.&rdquo; </p><p>Kemper is pleased with the way the project turned out. </p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re really going to have something that&rsquo;s a great addition to the city,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It will preserve the heritage of the African-American community.&rdquo;</p><p>The archives is now well-positioned. It has a functional new board, effective leadership and a vital partnership with the library. It will operate out of a prime piece of historic property that&rsquo;s in the perfect setting, right behind the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. All the project needs to thrive is continued support from the community.