COEUR d'ALENE - Thousands of pieces of North Idaho's history are still in need of a home.

And the Museum of North Idaho wants compensation for the home those pieces will no longer have beginning Jan. 1.

The museum purchased an 8,000 square-foot storage building on the corner of Northwest Boulevard and River Avenue, 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 plans to secure a long-term lease with BLM for use of the land as part of its Four Corners project, which will require all of the facilities in the area to be used for recreational purposes.

"We sent the city a letter to ask for an appraisal and compensation for the building," said Dorothy Dahlgren, museum director. "But that remains to be seen."

Mayor Steve Widmyer told The Press on Wednesday that the city's parks and recreation department was making a determination on whether it had a use for the building. If it finds a use for the facility, Widmyer said, city officials will move forward with processing the museum's request.

"If there's not, we won't move forward," he added.

Museum board member Don Pischner, who grew up in the Four Corners area and has a passion for the history of the region, questioned why the city wouldn't want to use the building. He told The Press that the facility is solidly built and has a low profile.

"So why isn't it part of the plan?" Pischner said.

Pischner's passion for the building and its contents led him to, as a citizen, go to Boise to advocate for the museum to state-level BLM employees and members of congress.

"My whole goal was to save that building for the museum," Pischner said. "It's a quality building, our artifacts are stored there, and we own the building."

He added that he feels if the city would have been interested in a partnership with the museum, the group could make a strong case to BLM staff for allowing the storage.

"But they aren't interested in doing that," Pischner said. "I think the city just closed the door - they have their plan and that's it."

"It's just simply not allowed," Widmyer responded. "That's not the city's rule, it's BLM's."

Originally museum officials were told they had until June 1 to find a new facility for the pieces, but the BLM recently granted them an extension through the rest of 2015.

"But we're not going to move artifacts in December," Dahlgren said. "So we have to be out before the snow flies - if we can find a place."

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. Dahlgren said the museum has not been able to find a suitable facility, nor acquire a piece of land where it could build one.

"I'm not sure what the BLM expects us to do if we can't find a location by Jan. 1," she added. "Are we just going to have to set the things out on the corner?"

Widmyer responded to Dahlgren's statement by saying the city has been helping the museum in its efforts to find a new storage facility, and that the organization has known "for quite some time" it would have to vacate the current facility.

"I think they've had ample time to find one and we all know there are storage facilities out there," Widmyer said.