On Mar. 23 the Jefferson County Commission announced that nearly $2.7 million of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds would be dedicated to six organizations in Birmingham’s civil rights district to improve their facilities and promote tourism in Birmingham.

Local officials say these improvements have the potential to bring millions of dollars in revenue to Jefferson County.

The district has several historic locations that were pivotal to the nation’s civil rights movement including the 16th Street Baptist Church where four young girls were killed in a 1963 bombing and trail markers that follow parts of the 1963 Children’s March routes.

“Birmingham is a destination place,” said Reverend Arthur Price, pastor of the 16th Street Baptist Church.

“Just as Philadelphia is for the Liberty Bell. Just as the Boston Harbor, where they dumped tea. Just as Ellis Island in New York. Birmingham, Alabama is a destination place to see where world history took place.”