However, many years of financial challenges and declining attendance led the Southwest Museum to merge with the Autry Museum of the American West (Autry) in 2003. At that time, the Autry assumed responsibility for the site’s historic buildings, which includes the historic Southwest Museum of the American Indian,, its 12-acre campus, an archive, a large and important collection of ethnographic and archaeological artifacts, and the 1917 Casa de Adobe, a hand-built adobe structure that was intended to be a replica of a historic early California rancho. While the Autry has completed the careful documentation, conservation, and preservation of the museum’s vast collection of art and artifacts in their new Resources Center and stabilized the historic museum buildings to address earthquake damage, the Autry and the community were not able to reach consensus on the most viable, appropriate, and sustainable use for the buildings and grounds.