After years of searching for a new, permanent home, the Levine Museum of the New South says it has found one.
The museum on Wednesday announced plans to move into a historic brick church in South End once attended by a young Billy Graham, and turn the space into a museum and community gathering space.
The church is prominently located at the intersection of South and East Boulevards, steps away from the Blue Line East/West Boulevard station and the Charlotte Rail Trail.
Levine Museum CEO Richard Cooper said the brick church dates to the early 1900s and has had multiple names through the years — most recently Grace Covenant Church. He said the museum will acquire the church and its 57-acre parcel from its parishioners, who had been looking to sell in recent years.
It was not immediately clear where, or if, the congregation planned to relocate. Cooper said the public will be invited into the building in the coming months as architects and museum staff refine plans for the museum's design and new exhibitions.
"We'll allow the community to come in and share reflections. We'll have test exhibitions that we'll put in the space. So it's a lot of building for what we'll build out in the next couple of years," he said.
Renderings released by Levine Museum show a new glass tower attached to the brick sanctuary. The museum could include classrooms, meeting spaces and a cafe. Cooper said the design could change based on community feedback. An opening date is to be determined.
The Levine Museum has been without a permanent home since 2022, when it sold its longtime 7th Street property in uptown Charlotte. It spent two years in a temporary 6,000-square-foot location at Three Wells Fargo Center before closing in May 2025.
