'Just what we need:' Eternal Gandhi Museum to open its doors in Houston

Houston will soon see the doors of the Eternal Gandhi Museum open to the public with the goal of preserving the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi. 

"The Eternal Gandhi Museum is coming to SW Houston," said Houston community leader Sheri Cortez in a Twitter post. "So excited for bringing a family friendly place for all to enjoy. Just what we need in the community I love and serve."

This will be the first-ever museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, according to the museum's website. 

The museum states that its message and focus is: "Through practice of nonviolent conflict resolution, visitors (especially youth) can be catalysts for change in their own lives and communities." 

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in 1869 and was a believer in non-violent resistance, said a Britannica biography. He led the Indian nationalist movement against India's British colonial authorities.

The EGMH was formerly known as Mahatma Gandhi Library and is a nonprofit created in 2002 with the goal of creating through the life and work of Gandhi a thriving, vibrant educational organization aimed at impacting the world through its visitors, said the organization's website. 

The museum sits on three acres of land in southwest Houston with the proposed budget for construction and endowment at $12.5 million, the website said. The construction budget was set at $6.4 million.

In November of 2020, the Elkins Foundation gave the museum a capital grant of $100,000 for the construction of the museum, which was the second major foundation after Houston Endowment to offer support to EGMH in the early stages of its capital campaign, Indo American News reported. 

The museum is set to be completely by the end of the first quarter of 2022, the museum's website stated.