After restoration , the Imperial Hotel sign is once again lit up .
“ We have great visitation , but we don ’ t have much visibility ,” he said .
However , instead of having a small portion of the collection at the secondary Imperial Hotel location , an idea began to ferment as the COVID-19 pandemic began in full on how to best make use of the Imperial Hotel and the property around it , which had been purchased to enhance the hotel .
“ The idea of having a brand new museum building right next to the Imperial and shotgun house started to develop ,” Pittman said . “ And through several visioning plans , a plan called the Jack Hadley Yards emerged .”
A 10,000 sq . ft . multi-level museum building , a Perra S . Bell community resource library and an outdoor atrium space are all planned for construction alongside renovations of the hotel shotgun house , according to Pittman .
“ With us having a brand new museum space right next to the Imperial , we no longer need rotating exhibits on the bottom floor of the Imperial , so that has opened up a lot of different plans on how we can use the bottom floor of the Imperial for ,” he said . “ Ideas like restaurants , office space , all kinds of different things came up .”
Pittman said that the current timetable has them opening up the new location to the public sometime in 2027 , saying that the Jack Hadley Yards plan was where they were heading for the near future .
“ That ’ s where we ’ re heading in the future ,” he said .
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