The museum's relocation came at an unfortunate time, as the neighborhood had been devastated a month earlier by the Martin Luther King assassination riots.[28] The NCFA struggled to attract visitors over the following decades, as the streets around it remained bleak and lonely.[29] This would remain a factor until the late 1990's, when the work of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation and the opening of the MCI Center (now Capital One Arena) across the street from the museum sparked a revitalization of the neighborhood.[30]