LAKE CITY, S.C. (AP) -- Organizers of a museum to honor Ronald McNair want to use a library he couldn't use because of his race in the 1960s to honor the Challenger astronaut.

McNair was taking his final flight aboard the space shuttle when it exploded off the Florida coast 17 years ago Tuesday. Lake City's annual candlelight service for McNair is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Ronald E. McNair Memorial Park.

The museum project is expected to incorporate the park, where a statue of McNair stands, said T.R. Cooper, president of the Ron McNair Committee and McNair's former elementary school principal.

An architect has been hired to design the museum at the old public library, but details of what it will feature have not been decided, Cooper said.

"The planning is still in the developmental stage right now and could be for a couple of years," Cooper said. "I think it could take three to five years before we see a completion of the project."

Organizers still are trying to figure out how much money they will have to spend. Both the city and the McNair committee are seeking grants for the project.

Though McNair spent much of his time in Florida working at NASA, he still had a soft spot in his heart for Lake City, Cooper said.

"He would come home often and come visit me, actually," Cooper said. "He also came back and talked to the school kids on occasion."

Cooper said the Challenger flight was supposed to be McNair's last mission before coming back to South Carolina for good.

"The way I took it was that he saw that as his final flight, just not in the way it was, obviously," Cooper said. "But, he wanted to return home and be a science professor at the University of South Carolina."

McNair also felt a close bond to his country.

"What I get from that is that he wanted to give his services to his nation first and then he wanted to come back and give his services to his state," Cooper said. "That's just the kind of man he was."

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