'World class': Former Birkenstock building in Novato purchased for new art and design museum

NOVATO, Calif. (KGO) -- In the North Bay, a local landmark is getting a new lease on life. The former Birkenstock building in Novato, known for its mid-century design will soon become a new art and design museum, celebrating the works of California designers, Ray and Charles Eames.

Take a drive up Highway 101 through Novato, and you can't miss it. The former Birkenstock building, two football fields-long with spikey peaks and lots of mid-century charm, often overlooked, until now.

"It's surprisingly in remarkably great shape," said Eames Institute of Curiosity president John Cary.

Cary's nonprofit The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity has purchased the 1960's era building with plans of transforming it into a new art and design museum. Largely dedicated to the legacy Charles and Ray Eames, the husband-and-wife design team and creators of the famous Herman Miller Eames chair among other mid-century classics .

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"We absolutely want to make this a world class destination, we believe Ray and Charles Eames as well as their contemporaries need global interest and support," Cary added.

Carey says the 88-acre campus footprint will largely remain the same, but be reimaged by the same architects who created the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park.

"We're also hoping to make space for artists who have yet to make their big mark," Cary added.

The Eames institute currently operates out of a warehouse in Richmond, where there's a wait list of 1,000 people hoping to visit. There's also this free pop-up Eames exhibit in the Transamerica Pyramid annex in San Francisco.

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Design enthusiast Brian Gerritsen says it's about time these classics have a world class home.

"There's avid collectors of this furniture, we are, nice to see a museum in Novato also," Gerritsen

The furniture has a cult following, even if it's not your thing, you've probably sat in airport seating like this around the world.

Cary says he helps. The museum will attract 200,000 people annually. A timeline for the project is still unknown. The cost for the building is $36 million.

Marin County is already home to mid-century landmarks like the Civic Center designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Now, this former sandal warehouse is ready for its second act.