COEUR d'ALENE - For more than 20 years, a nondescript metal building on the corner of River Avenue and Northwest Boulevard has housed thousands of pieces of North Idaho's history.

The Museum of North Idaho purchased the 8,000 square-foot storage building, which is now on Bureau of Land Management property in Coeur d'Alene, for $47,252 in 1992. However, the city of Coeur d'Alene's plan to secure a long-term lease with BLM for use of the land as part of its Four Corners project means the museum will have to find a new home for the artifacts by June 1.

"The museum's use of the storage building is a trespass because it is not being used for recreational purposes," said Dorothy Dahlgren, museum director. "This is a great building, but we knew the time would come where we would have to move."

When the museum purchased the building, the lease agreement stipulated that the facility would have to be torn down when the lease expired. But, according to Dahlgren, since the building is in good shape, the city plans on keeping it intact for uses that fall within BLM standards.

More than 2,700 historical artifacts are housed in the storage building, including some large items like a stage coach that went from Hauser Lake to Coeur d'Alene, and a water wagon used on the Rathdrum Prairie.

"They're all items that our donors felt needed to be preserved," Dahlgren said. "We do our best here to maintain professional museum standards at the facility as far as cataloging and storage goes."

The museum is looking for a storage building with at least 5,000 square feet, Dahlgren said, preferably close to the museum's location in downtown Coeur d'Alene. Any help from members of the community with moving the artifacts is also welcomed.

"It's going to be quite a job to move all of this," Dahlgren added. "It is the community's history and we hope they will assist us in any way they can with this project."

Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer told The Press that the city has always had a great partnership with the Museum of North Idaho.

"Moving forward, we want to help them out with getting a new storage facility," Widmyer said. "In the long term, we want to help them with getting a new museum facility as well."