Nine months after breaking ground in Downtown Glendale, signs of progress are becoming visible at the future site of the Armenian American Museum.

View from Glendale Central ParkArmenian American Museum

Located just northeast of the intersection of Colorado Street and Brand Boulevard in Glendale Central Park, the project will consist of a two-story building featuring nearly 51,000 square feet of space above a basement garage. Permanent and temporary exhibition galleries are proposed for the upper level of the building, while a lobby, an auditorium, offices, and other functions are planned at street level.

Designed by Glendale-based Alajajian Marcoosi Architects, the museum will feature a jagged exterior modeled on rock formations seen in the Armenian Highlands.

Gallagher & Associates is leading the design team for the museum's permanent exhibition, which will focus on the Armenian Genocide

Construction in progress at the Armenian American Museum in Downtown GlendaleArmenian American Museum

Planned for more than seven years, the museum occupies a prominent piece of real estate in Glendale Central Park under a $1-per-year ground lease agreement with the City of Glendale. The lease runs for an initial term of 55 years, with four optional 10-year extensions that could push that total to 95 years.

Construction of the Armenian American Museum will be paired with a planned $18.5-million revamp of Glendale Central Park, which will convert a parking lot into park to space to replace the open area lost to the museum footprint.