The three-story brick building, designed by Los Angeles architect Norman Marsh, was the grandest elementary school in town when it was built in 1913. It served thousands of elementary school students before being closed by the School District in 1972 due to declining downtown population. Later, the building was remodeled for use as a recruiting center for the Department of Defense, before closing altogether.

Now, as the home of the Children's Museum of Phoenix, this restored architectural masterwork is alive again with the sounds of laughter, learning, and play.

AzTAP Department of Services for Persons with Disabilities conducted an accessibility evaluation in August 2008 and summarized, “the Children's Museum of Phoenix is the most exceptionally disability-aware arts institution this evaluator has ever surveyed.”