Zahirsha and other leaders of the American Momin Park project began spreading the word in recent days that southwest Springfield will gain a new 10,500-square-foot mosque. Plans include a prayer hall, a fellowship hall, educational facilities and a cemetery set on 5.5 acres just east of West Bypass. The area has three existing Christian churches and a wedding venue on nearby streets, along with single-family houses and undeveloped land. 

Zahirsha said that the first two phases of the project are budgeted to cost $2 million; he said he personally sold houses he owned in Los Angeles and St. Louis to help buy land and otherwise develop the project.

Zahirsha said the mosque nonprofit, established in 2014, has roughly $650,000 in hand and expects to be able to raise funds for the remaining portion of the $1.2 million phase 1, which includes the religious facility and the cemetery. When funding is in place, construction will happen quickly, he said.

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