Plans to build a museum in honor of late entertainer Michael Jackson are moving forward just weeks before the one-year anniversary of his death.

Holding a press conference in Gary, Indiana, the site and home of the Jackson family year's ago, Joe Jackson, Mayor Rudy Clay and organizers revealed a $300 million project set to include a museum, performing arts and cultural center as well as a hotel -- all on a 300 acre site donated by the town (Gary, Ind.).

"This is something that my family and Michael have always wanted," Joe Jackson said Wednesday. "We're bringing something back."

Sources say the project was first discussed in 2003, but no work began before Jackson's death last year.

The town's decision to donate the 300 acres will aid organizers in getting the project off the ground, with construction beginning as early as next year (2011).

Rudy Clay, mayor of Gary, IN, says that the $300 million project will be financed by donations from private investors.

c: AP/ Post-Tribune