Salt Lake City’s misfit, often forgotten, art museum is getting a new building and a new location.

In the wake of last week’s reveal of downtown’s sports, entertainment, culture and convention district from Smith Entertainment Group, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art held a virtual community briefing Thursday featuring museum and county leaders to talk about the future.

Museum Executive Director Laura Allred Hurtado opened with the big news:

“Our current building will be torn down,” she said, “to allow for that east-west connection that the new district is planning.”

UMOCA will move north, closer to Abravanel Hall, and will serve as an entryway to the district, explained Allred Hurtado.

The museum has been housed in its latest location since 1979. It’s one of three arts organizations that has a county-owned home, alongside the Utah Symphony and Ballet West. But, it has had its challenges in that spot.

“While we have dear feelings toward our existing building,” Allred Hurtado said, “we have been buried underground, making our programming and even our institution really invisible.”

She laments, for instance, the lack of natural light in the current building, which makes viewing exhibitions more difficult.

Allied Works, a Portland, Oregon-based architectural firm, will design the new UMOCA. Early renderings show a facade inspired by Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels — a famous land art installation in Utah — according to lead designer Emily Kappes.

The designs include a cafe, multipurpose community and event spaces, and several gallery spaces infused with natural light. Allred Hurtado said the new space will allow the museum to bring in contemporary art unable to be displayed in the current building.

Organizers also hope to bring art to the public patheway that will connect the entire district.

The current UMOCA will close July 10, 2027. Construction on its new digs will stretch into 2031. During that time, the museum will operate out of a temporary facility that has yet to be announced, but programming will continue.

The museum will mark its centennial in 2031 — in its new home.

To say goodbye to the old space, curator Jared Steffensen said the museum will host one last exhibition called “So Long.” Artists who have showcased their work at the museum all the way back to 1979 will be invited to donate their artwork.

When the building is razed, the artwork will go with it, symbolically creating the foundation of a new era of UMOCA, Steffensen said.

The museum encourages artists — and art lovers — to get involved with the museum’s final phase.

“We all recognize that great cities need great cultural institutions,” said Virginia Pearce, president of UMOCA’s board. “Art is what makes our city come alive, brings us all together, makes our community a more interesting place to live.”

Note to readers • This story is developing.