City Museum - History

History

City Museum was founded by artist Bob Cassilly, who remained the museum's artistic director until his death, and his then-wife Gail Cassilly. The museum's building was once a International Shoe Company factory and warehouse but was mostly vacant when the Cassillys bought it in 1983. Construction began in January 1995 and the building opened to the public on October 25, 1997. The museum has since expanded, adding new exhibits such as MonstroCity in 2002, Enchanted Caves and Shoe Shaft in 2003, and World Aquarium in 2004. A circus ring on the third floor offers daily live acts. The City Museum also houses The Shoelace Factory, whose antique braiding machines makes colorful shoelaces for sale.

The building's fifth floor houses apartments, dubbed the Lofts at City Museum, which range in size from 1,300 to more than 2,800 square feet (260 m2).

The 10th floor is an extention of Windows On Washington called Windows Off Washington.

The museum has been visited by various celebrities, including Miley Cyrus in 2007 and the Jonas Brothers. The Museum has hosted concerts. It has been described as "a wild, singular vision of an oddball artistic mind" and compared to the similarly individualistic Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles.