The Museum of the Confederacy’s exhibit building on Clay Street will be sold to help finance the new expansion at the riverfront, Coleman said. A buyer and price have been agreed on. Negotiations continue on reserving space for the museum to operate a gift shop and admissions area for the historic White House of the Confederacy, where Confederate President Jefferson Davis lived during the Civil War.

At the Tredegar riverfront site, where the museum and National Park Service have facilities on land owned by NewMarket Corp., the museum’s previously announced design for an L-shaped building didn’t resonate with the property owner. It seemed too big, too dominant.

“NewMarket said go into the hillside,” Coleman said. “Let’s see what we can come up with together that will work better. We have architects at 3north who know the site well. They allowed us to use a portion of the property that we didn’t think we would have access to, and it kept the plaza open.”

The building had to be a little smaller to fit, so NewMarket also gave permission to modify other historic buildings on the property for use as a family education center and offices, Coleman said.