The former Dominion Museum Building opened in 1936, and housed the National Museum and Art Gallery until 1996, when both were relocated to The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. In 1997, Wellington Tenths Trust purchased the site from the Crown.
After Wellington Polytechnic and Massey University merged in 1999, the University purchased a half share of the site from the Tenths Trust.
Completed in 2001, the Museum Building has been meticulously restored in a joint venture between Massey University and the Tenths Trust.
Such careful restoration has earned the approval of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, who described it as "one of the finest conservation projects the Trust has had the pleasure to support."