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Weeksville could have vanished altogether once before.

The remains of the village of free African-Americans who had carved out a settlement after New York abolished slavery were crumbling in the 1960s. Preservationists crusaded, and the refuge nestled in the heart of Brooklyn was saved.

Nearly six decades later, the future of the Weeksville Heritage Center is again in question as a budget shortfall threatens to force it to close. Without an injection of funds by the end of next month, officials said, its efforts to educate visitors and preserve the haven that was home to hundreds of African-Americans before the Civil War are in jeopardy.

“We would lose this repository of history, of black Brooklyn, of this inspiring example of what black people built in an age before emancipation,” said Rob Fields, the executive director of the center.