Huge Outdoor Classroom to Be Built at Boise Anne Frank Memorial

I've run past the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial along the Greenbelt for years and now the already fascinating local landmark is about to become even more significant. 

According to the Idaho Statesman, the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights is planning to add a huge outdoor, open-air classroom with permanent seating for up to 35 people.

If you're not familiar with the current Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, you can find it at 777 S. 8th Street near the Boise Public Library's main branch.  It opened in 2002 and includes a small amphitheater, garden honoring Boise Holocaust survivor Rose Beal, and a chestnut tree that was grown from a sapling that was harvested from the chestnut tree located near where Anne Frank and her family hid during the Holocaust.

The Wassmuth Center plans to break ground on the new outdoor classroom on August 16th.  The news pavilion will be built next to the current amphitheater and will have the same feel of the structures that are already there.  It'll include a 55-inch TV that will play videos about a moment, event, piece of legislation that impacted groups like women, Japanese, Chinese, Basques, Mornings, refugees and the LGBTQ community in Idaho. Another unique addition to the memorial? A recreation of the desk Anne Frank wrote her now famous diary at during her family's time in hiding in Amsterdam.

The plans for the project look pretty cool! If you want to see what the final product will look like check out the video below! If you haven't visited the current Anne Frank Memorial, it's definitely a cool place to stop and check out during your run or bike ride along the Boise Greenbelt.

A heads up for runners, walkers and cyclists...construction will affect the entrance to the Greenbelt off of 8th Street once it begins in August.