A museum honoring the history of Negro League baseball is nearing completion in Paterson.

The museum will be located at the historic Hinchliffe Stadium, which is undergoing renovations.

“Unfortunately, not everybody knows about who played here and when they played here,” says Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh. “This is a proud moment for Paterson.”

Some of the best baseball players who played at Hinchliffe include Monte Irvin and hall-of-famer Josh Gibson.

The museum is possible in part from a donation by Paterson native Charlie Muth, of Beyond Meat.

“I started as a truck driver for Coca-Cola, right on McClean Boulevard when they had a warehouse over there, driving a Coca-Cola truck,” Muth says.

Muth made a fortune in the bottling industry and as chief growth officer for Beyond Meat – the company that makes plant-based meat products.

“I knew coming out of Paterson that my right of passage was going to require grit and determination,” Muth says.

Muth was revealed on Monday as the donor who gave $5 million for the Hinchliffe Museum.

“It's really, I think time, for folks who are from Paterson who've really been able to do things, to really look at Paterson as an opportunity,” says developer Baye Adofo-Wilson.

Adofo-Wilson ran in track meets at Hinchcliffe as a Paterson high school athlete. He’s now leading the redevelopment of the stadium, museum and nearby senior housing complex and parking.

“The city has struggled in the past. But now there's synergy around this city,” Sayegh says.