After several public meetings and months of location scouting, the Phoenix Trolley museum finally has a new location on Grand Avenue. The museum’s board of directors announced its new location att 1117 Grand Avenue last Saturday.
The museum, which has been located in Margaret T. Hance Park since the 1970s, is Phoenix’s only history museum. After the Hance Park redesign did not renew the museum’s lease, it was faced with the decision to either relocate or permanently close its doors.
Robert Graham, secretary of the museum’s board of directors, said a new site needed to be able to be developed quickly and house the museum’s current collection. The collection consists of two partially restored trolley cars and some museum space. Graham said they also wanted the option to eventually give trolley rides.
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The new site currently has an old house and a parking lot. Will Keller, president of the museum’s board of the directors, said they plan to rehabilitate and use the house in some capacity. They also will need to build a barn on the site to house the trolley cars.
“We need to complete the design of how it’s going to look and how it’s going to interface with a couple of the adjacent properties and we need to design a covered car barn facility, which will house both the streetcars and the interpretive museum,” Keller said.
The board of directors is hoping to open the museum at the new site in the next year and a half, Keller said.
Moving forward, Graham estimated the museum will need to raise about half a million dollars in the form of grant money and donations to get the site up and running and complete the transition.
He said the museum is focusing increasing community interest not only to help raise money, but also for long term success.
“In the end Grand Avenue won because it is first of all unquestionably available,” Graham said. “It was on an original Phoenix trolley line and it can accommodate the kind of facilities we need.”
There is no room on the site to run a trolley, but there are other options the museum is considering to add this feature in coming years. Graham said they are hoping to work with the city to run a trolley.
One possibility they hope would work would be done by taking out the backside of the site and utilizing an alley and the city streets. Another possibility would to be to run the trolley on Grand Avenue by working with Grand Avenue Rail Project, a nonprofit organization which hopes to restore a historic streetcar line on Grand Avenue.
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Graham said they hope the museum will draw community members.
“Our real aim is to involve the community as much as possible and not just be that old dusty place on the corner that you can send mom and dad when they come into town” Graham said.
Cyndy Gaughan, Grand Avenue Members Association said she was excited and relieved when the heard the announcement of the museum’s new location on Grand Avenue. She expects the arrival of the museum to add even more diversity to the Grand Avenue area.
“I think it will bring people who are looking for something different than what is currently offered on Grand,” Gaughan said. “We’ve got venues. We’ve got restaurants. We’ve got galleries and then this is just going to be one other attraction for the Grand Avenue area. One more reason to visit Grand.”
Contact the reporter at Stephanie.M.Morse@asu.edu.
