Civil Rights Center to Bring Jobs, Money ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - The Center for Civil and Human Rights will create more than $1 billion in economic activity in its first 10 years. That's according to a new economic impact study released today by the Center for Civil and Human Rights Partnership.

The dollar estimates are based on the number of visitors that the Center expects. Doug Shipman, Executive Director of the Partnership, says that surveys are promising:

SHIPMAN: There was a very high level of interest in the topic, in the King Papers, which'll be displayed, and in the overall concept, so we feel pretty comfortable that it can attract a lot of visitors.

According to estimates, the Center will attract some 800 thousand visitors in its first year, and roughly 650 thousand every year after that. That, says Shipman, means jobs:

SHIPMAN: 1100 sustainable jobs, a little over 100 in the center itself, and then the additional jobs are those created by the economic activity of the folks who visit - the hotel rooms that they stay in, the places that they eat, the other shopping that they do, etc.

The Center, which is slated to open in 2010, will cost about $125 million to build, and $13 million to operate annually.
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