Oberlin's Underground Railroad center on track for 2020 opening (photos)

OBERLIN, Ohio -- It's pretty well known that Oberlin was a famous stop on the Underground Railroad, which helped runaway slaves escape to Canada. Now, the city is highlighting that legacy with an interpretative center that will feature educational programs and displays.

George Abram, chairman of the Oberlin Underground Railroad Center Interpretation Team, said the center is "very important." He said it's not a museum because that is too limiting for what is being planned.

"We want people to be able to come here and get a real feel for what it was like to escape slavery through the underground railroad system," Abram said. "Though we are still in the planning stages. We have not even decided what exhibits that should be inside."

Abram said the design group hopes to convey the experiences of slavery  through art and exhibits. Several ideas are being considered, including putting in a water fountain outside the building that depicts scenes of slavery, decorating the downspouts on the building with paintings of chains and shackles, and bringing in an exhibit of a slave ship.

"We plan to talk about what it will take to make it a memorable experience.

The city already has spent more than $1.3 million on the project, much of which came from state and federal and Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency grants, to turn the historic, round Oberlin Gasholder Building off Main and Addison streets into an Underground Railroad information center.

Phase three, the final and most expensive part of the project, is the actual conversion of the 1889 Gasholder building, which once held coal gas for the city's energy needs, into the interpretative center. It includes the interior renovations, the exhibits and some exterior work as well.

It is expected to begin as early as 2018 and finish in 2020. It is expected to cost between $2 and $3 million, bringing the entire project's cost to between $3.3 and $4.3 million.

Phase three will be challenging because of the building's unusual construction. The 2,300 square-foot base of the building is round and rises into a large cone at the top. It measures 45 feet from the floor to the interior top of the cone. A basement, now deemed unusable pending repairs, is 16 feet high.

Diane Ramos, administrative coordinator of Oberlin city manager's office, said the design committee is still debating how best to use the entire building space.

"We will use the main floor for displays. We don't want to interfere with the beautiful, domed ceiling by adding another floor," she said. "We are considering a loft-type structure that would allow for more space without blocking the view of the ceiling."

The Underground Railroad allowed more than 50,000 people to escape slavery between 1830 and 1860. Many of them went through Oberlin and Cleveland on their way to Canada. Oberlin was known as "Station 99" of the imaginary railroad path during those years.

People fleeing slavery would be smuggled from house to house along the path from the South to Oberlin and beyond, avoiding people who were hired to catch and return them. People aiding fleeing slaves could be charged under the law.

Oberlin became nationally known in 1858 and 1859 for the massive rescue of John Price, an escaped slave and Oberlin resident. He lived in Oberlin for two years before he was captured by slave catchers and taken to Wellington to await being transported back into the plantation he fled. The thought of the popular local man being condemned to such a fate angered people in Oberlin. A crowd of hundreds, black and white, converged on a hotel where Price was being held and freed him. He eventually fled to Canada.

Since freeing a slave was a violation of federal law, 37 of the rescuers were arrested and 21 of them were jailed in Cleveland for 84 days. When they returned to Oberlin, they were greeted as heroes and their efforts helped change the minds of some about slavery. A few years later, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln outlawed slavery during the Civil War.

Abram said the committee, made up of nine members of the Oberlin community, is still working on the actual plans for the building.

Part of the interpretative center includes constructing a parking lot and building a structure that will link the facility to the North Coast Inland Bike Trail, which skirts the property. That phase is under way and expected to be completed by the summer of 2017.

"Soon we will begin fund raising to pay for the final stretch of the project," said Ramos. "We expect to do a lot of fundraising here in the city, but plan to extend it further. We are also looking into grants to help pay for it."

The idea of some kind of underground railroad "museum" has been ongoing since 2000 with a citizen's group submitting ideas. In 2004, the group morphed into the current planning team. The first phase, which included selecting the gashouse as the site and making extensive repairs and upgrades to the building, started in 2011 and was completed a year later.

Installing parking spaces, bike racks and exterior landscaping started in May.

Abram said he can't wait to see the finished product.

"I think it will be something special, something we can all be proud of," he said.

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