The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis has reached its goal of raising $1.5 million to acquire and begin renovations on a building to serve as its permanent home.

The museum announced Wednesday that it met a deadline for the fundraising effort. The museum's founder and CEO, Julia Whitehead, told The Indianapolis Star that it's "a wonderful step forward" and people "are recognizing that we have something very special here."

Whitehead said in March that the museum signed a purchase agreement for a building to display a new exhibition about Vonnegut's book "Slaughterhouse-Five." It will also display other exhibitions and the organization's large collection of Vonnegut artifacts and memorabilia.

The museum has been operating for eight years but is currently closed to the public. Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis. He died in 2007 at age 84.

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com