Georgia’s Lilburn mosque hopes to break ground next year

Five years after federal intervention cleared the way for expansion of a Lilburn mosque; its members are preparing to make the new house of worship a reality.

Five years after federal intervention cleared the way for expansion of a Lilburn mosque; its members are preparing to make the new house of worship a reality.

The Dar-e ‘Abbas Islamic Shia Center plans to break ground next year on a 20,000-square-foot, two-story facility on Lawrenceville Highway at Hood Road. 

The mosque bought about four acres around its existing small buildings and is working with Lilburn officials to prepare for the new mosque.

The quiet preparations follow a public outcry over the proposed mosque that twice led the Lilburn City Council to reject the rezoning needed for it to move forward.

 A federal lawsuit and an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice pressured the city to approve the expansion five years ago this month.