When the Brooks Museum announced it was moving from its longtime home in Overton Park, it was a tremendous surprise to many people.

“There was no way to do that without it being a shock to the community,” remembers Emily Neff, the executive director of the Brooks.

But in the months after that announcement, Neff explained — to anyone who would listen — why Neff and her board of directors made the decision to move the Brooks Downtown. She walks through that long and complicated process, as well as the many factors they had to weigh, in this week’s edition of The Extra Podcast.

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While Neff emphasizes that they “love” the building they are in, the building had become “operationally unsound.”

Neff says operating in the building — which is really four buildings built over a century and combined somewhat imperfectly together — has “really, truly been a daily battle.” Among other issues, the HVAC and humidity problems with the building can be a danger to the Brooks’ art collection, and a hinderance to securing traveling exhibits.

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Why, though, would the Brooks spend more than $100 million on a new location — the Downtown fire station and parking garage at Front and Monroe — versus improving the current structure?

“We felt like staying in place and creating more building in a greenspace was probably not going to be acceptable to the community,” Neff says. She also highlights the opportunities with being located Downtown at a time of tremendous growth and investment in that area.

Design concepts for the new museum are set to be revealed on March 25, 2020. Neff says they are aiming to have the new building under construction in 2022, with the actual move into the new building occurring in 2025.

We also talked about basketball, what's next for the current Brooks building, and the idea that the city now has “momentum.” I’m not sure where she heard that word. Personally, I’ve never heard it used in regards to Memphis.

Take a listen.

Produced by Natalie Van Gundy

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