Plans are moving along for the building expansion of one of the most popular museums in Arizona.
Officials with the Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, which is located at 3830 N. Marshall Way, are envisioning an addition to the current facility that will house two floors and two new galleries.
An important step forward was taken last month with a vote by the Scottsdale City Council approving the project.
The 43,000 square-foot museum, which was opened in 2015 and features exhibits exploring the state’s Western heritage, operates at the site of the former and historic Loloma Transit Station.
Those exhibits include a celebration of the region’s Native American, Spanish, and Mexican settlers, along with the contributions of Americans who moved to southern Arizona from other places in the country.
The mission of the museum, according to its website, is to offer “high-quality exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach addressing regional history, particularly as reflected by the arts and dynamic cultural exchanges that have marked the transition of the Old West into the New West.”
The expansion is expected to cost around $12 million to complete and will comprise nearly 11,400 square feet of new exhibition space. Project designer is the Phoenix-based Studio MA.
Among the displays expected to be housed in the museum’s expansion: the extensive Eddie Basha Collection of American Indian and Western American fine art. That collection was cultivated by the late Eddie Basha, Jr., owner of Bashas’ Incorporated, a grocery store chain primarily located in Arizona.
The City of Scottsdale entered into a management agreement with the museum nearly a decade ago and is expected to provide some $40,000 in city maintenance costs associated with the facility’s expansion.
By Garry Boulard
