Financing to fund the first phase of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia, US, has been secured, with construction to start this month.

The US$125m (96m euro, £84m) project, which will detail the African-American civil rights movement and ongoing human rights issues, had been slow to secure funds due to the economic downturn.

However, on 7 March PNC Bank and Invest Atlanta announced US$24m (18m euro, £16m) support for the project.

The building will cost US$100m (76m euro, £67m) to construct and a US$25m (19m euro, £17m) endowment will support operations when the museum opens in mid-2014.

The Coca Cola Company, which runs nearby attraction The World of Coca-Cola, donated the 2.5-acre section where the museum will be built.

An estimated 700 construction jobs will be created over the next two years and a further 500 sustainable jobs will be created when it opens.

In 2009 the museum purchased exhibition rights to Morehouse College's 10,000-piece Martin Luther King Jr. collection, which includes handwritten notes and unpublished sermons.

Regional president for PNC Bank Eddie Meyers said: "The financing is a wise investment in economic development for our region and in support of the centre's mission to shed light on human rights struggles around the world."