MACON, Ga. — Crews demolished the original Tubman African American Museum building Thursday morning, bringing down a structure that served as a cultural beacon in downtown Macon for three decades.

Excavators began tearing into the building at the corner of Walnut Street and MLK Boulevard just after 9 a.m. The demolition marks the end of a 40-year chapter that began when Father Richard Keil purchased the vacant warehouse in 1981.

The building first opened as the Harriet Tubman Historical and Cultural Museum in 1985 after church members, high school students and community volunteers transformed the former nightclub into an 8,500-square-foot cultural center.

Jeffrey Bruce served as curator at the museum from 2002 to 2015. He says the building represented more than just a museum.

"It was

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