Berkeley’s form of spring cleaning is keeping the old and adding the new — with the historic printing plant to become a framework for a new art museum.

The 1939 building was on deck for demolition, but the Berkeley Art Museum scrapped those plans after falling short of funds, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. Now the historical landmark will serve as the shell for 30,000 museum pieces and the largest collection of Japanese films outside of Japan with roughly 70 staff members, the article said. Of course, that means the museum will have to enlarge the building, with its size only measuring about half of the current museum.

“That printing plant offers exciting options for accommodating a substantial part of our programs,” the museum’s director said in the article.

We think it suits the building.

Photo via sfgate.com