In his younger days, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a student at Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland.

He studied there from 1948 until his graduation in 1951. Now there are plans to convert the seminary building into a proposed peace center in his honor.

Delaware County Council kicked things off by unanimously approving $10,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the Center for Peace and Justice, writes Kathleen E. Carey for the Daily Times.

“I think the time is now,” said Janet Lloyd Murphy, who approached the council for the funds.

“So many schoolchildren, even in Chester Upland, don’t know that Martin Luther King spent time here, and I think it would be a great uplifting thing for them.”

Murphy is working with author Patrick Parr on a young adult version of a novel about King’s time when he was a theological student.

The county council allocation for the proposed peace center will cover a structural engineering study and the cost of potentially transferring the building to Delaware County.

The building is currently closed.

It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Founded in 1868, the seminary was an integrated school when King was there. It graduated about 2,000 clergymen worldwide.

Read more of the theological seminary’s history in the Daily Times.