The art museum's lease: a thirty-six-month clock, running

27 August 2026 — about August 2029

The vote: On Thursday 27 August 2026 the Civic Center Board of Managers voted unanimously to end the South Bend Museum of Art's lease at Century Center on thirty-six months' notice. The museum has occupied its specially designed space in that building since Century Center opened in 1977; the notice runs to about August 2029. The context is the city's own: the Downtown South Bend 2045 Plan proposed relocating the museum and demolishing Century Center's north wing. The museum is not without resources or standing — the Lilly Endowment awarded it one million dollars in July 2026, its executive director is Lisa Shaffer, and it turns eighty in 2027 — and it is meeting with the city's planning team on next steps. But no new home has been announced in the record reached as of November 2026, three months into the thirty-six. The museum's post-lease course is a living item of this record, and it is printed here at clock size: the end is dated, the destination is not yet in the record.

Sources:

1. South Bend Tribune, 27 August 2026 — the Civic Center Board of Managers' unanimous vote, the thirty-six months' notice, the museum's tenure in Century Center since 1977, the Lilly Endowment's July 2026 award of $1 million, and Executive Director Lisa Shaffer.
2. City of South Bend, Downtown South Bend 2045 Plan — the proposed relocation of the museum and demolition of Century Center's north wing, carried in the Parks and Plans account in this record.