The Dutch city of Almere was built on reclaimed land that was once the Zuiderzee – a shallow sea bay in the Netherlands. The first house in this planned new town was completed in 1976. Since then, the city has grown to a population of nearly 220,000, which means Almere is well on its way to being the fifth-largest city in the country. However, it lacks a museum of note, befitting a metropolis of such stature. Local, provincial and national Government administrators agreed that a museum should be on top of the priority list to raise the city’s appeal.