Project Description:
Homecoming Headquarters at Restoration Center will be one-of-a-kind genealogy, cultural heritage tourism, business and world-class conference facility located in southern Africa. The Center will be a facility where African Americans can reconnect to the Continent and renew lost ties severed as a result of the transatlantic slave trade.
Focus Areas:
Focus areas of both Centers will be tourism, cultural heritage reconnection, business and education. One of the proposed initiatives that will be housed is a DNA testing program, made available to people who had enslaved ancestors who were part of the transatlantic slave trade and a genealogy research center to help people of all ethnic backgrounds to connect with their family heritage.
Project Details:
Inside there will be rooms for organizations local and from around the world to host conferences, and conventions, business meetings, trade shows, entertainment, banquets, etc. Various rooms include, but are not be limited to:
♦ Executive Suites and Office Space
♦ World Class Multimedia Conference Center
♦ Business Commerce Center
♦ Gift shop and Food Court
♦ History Gallery
♦ Educational Wing/Computer lab
♦ Auditorium
♦ Recreation Center
♦ Multipurpose Banquet Hall
Phase 1 of the Center will be the History Gallery, Business Commerce Center/Office Space, Auditorium, Multimedia Conference Center, Educational Wing/Computer Lab and Gift Shop/Food Court, with a target completion date of TBD. The remaining phases (2 and 3) will consist of multipurpose banquet facility and recreation center.
Project Developer:
Diversity Restoration Solutions, Inc. (DRS), a business tourism and social entity that develops international trade projects. DRS is located in Hampton Roads area of Virginia
Additional Project at Homecoming Headquarters at Restoration Center:
The Wall of Return Project. The Wall of Return is DRS’ answer to the “Door of No Return” that was part of many slave ports and castles on the West Coast of Africa. Enslaved African ancestors walked through these doors when they were captured and placed on slave ships for the journey to the Americas, with many never knowing they would not return to their homeland. The Wall of Return is a way to honor the memory of our ancestors and their family’s symbolic return back home to Africa, completed a journey of over 400 years for many families.
There will be walls for engraved name lines located in the History Gallery , Business Commerce and Nonprofit/Educational wings of the Center. Outside walls for engraved name line will also be located on the grounds surrounding the Center, in a garden-like setting. The third option for displaying names will be an electronic signage book with names continuously scrolling for those who choose this method of reconnecting to Africa or honoring the memory of their ancestors.
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