The proposal for the center as such was developed by the office of the Secretary of Culture during the administration of President
Néstor Kirchner, led at the time by
José Nun. Nun obtained a grant from the
Spanish Embassy of € 300,000 toward the project, and work began in 2006 to remodel the eclecticist
French baroque building designated for the purpose. The apartment building, completed in 1913, was purchased by the former state water and sanitation concern, OSN, in 1937 for use as housing for its administrative employees in Buenos Aires. Following OSN's privatization, the building was transferred the National Culture Secretariat in 1996, and until 2001, was slated to house the National Museum of
Asian Art (which, since 1965, has occupied the bottom floor of the
National Museum of Decorative Arts). The building was made part of a series of projects to honor the
Bicentennial of the
May Revolution of 1810, and following refurbishment works and installations costing around US$1.7 million, was formally inaugurated as the National Bicentennial House by President
Cristina Kirchner on March 16, 2010. The center's maiden exhibit,
Mujeres. 1810–2010, was dedicated to the historical role of
women in Argentina. ==References==