The 167-year-old American College (Amerikan Koleji) located in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş is slated to be transformed into the "Seven Good Men" Literature Museum to attract bookworms and tourists alike.
The old American college was built in 1850 by American missionaries but was shuttered for 80 years following the Treaty of Lausanne, and in 1935 it was expropriated. And ever since, the college has hosted different educational institutions.
The "Seven Good Men" refers to a literary movement of writers and thinkers in 1950s Turkey.
Names like Sezai Karakoç, Cahit Zarifoglu, Erdem Bayazıt, Rasim Özdenören, Nuri Pakdil, Mehmet Akif Inan and Alaeddin Özdenören, who left their mark on Turkish literature, will be memorialized in the museum.
Cevdet Kabakçı, the President of the Metropolitan Municipality Culture and Social Affairs Department, told Anadolu Agency that the restoration of the old American college began last year, after the building was transferred to the Metropolitan Municipality.
Kabakçı explained that the museum will be a very important place for Turkey and make significant contribution to urban culture, and said that work on the building will be finished by the end of March.
"The people of Kahramanmaraş, visitors to our city, those who come to learn about our history and literature lovers will [be able to] come here and work in the library, and see the Seven Good Men," Kabakçı said.
He continued, "Our children will also be encouraged to follow in the footsteps of the Seven Good Men. We will have a cafeteria in the garden. Our students will be able to come here to read, [write] and think. We will encourage them to write literature and poetry so that they can continue our city's legacy, a city of poets and writers."
The Seven Good Men literature museum is being built and restored by the Kahramanmaraş Metropolitan Municipality.
