In 2000, Atelier de Recherche ALBA produced a large scale installation based on narratives from this building and its neighborhood.[8] Protestations finally led to the suspension of the decision to destroy the Barakat building in 2003 and the municipality of Beirut decided to acquire it in order to install a memory museum with objects tracing the 7000-year history of the city. The municipality counts on the support of France to advance the restoration.[9][10]