The Building of the Museum

    The city has always owned the building, and still does.  The founders are leasing the property from the city.  Twenty thousand square feet of their property is used for the exhibit.  The rest of their property is used for storage, the Learning Center, offices and stands.  The city wanted the museum to build there because they (the city) needed a new attraction at the City Market; that is why there is an entrance to the museum at the city market.  The building that the museum is in now was built sometime in the 1940s, but they aren’t sure of the exact date.  The building used to be a produce warehouse.  They think the produce warehouse closed between 1988-1989.  The building stood idle for only two and a half years (the time they were fixing up the museum).