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The Palo Alto Museum, which is set to open next year in the historic and rehabilitated Roth Building, this week announced a major gift from a local business with a rich history of its own.
Thoits Bros., Inc., a property management company that owns commercial buildings throughout downtown, has contributed $1 million to the museum to fund its new executive director, according to museum officials. The gift comes at a time when the museum’s board of directors is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to pay for staff who will lead the new museum at 300 Homer Ave.
The building, which formerly served as the Palo Alto Clinic, has been in disrepair for more than three decades as the city considered new uses. After years of negotiations, the council approved in April 2023 a tenant approval letter with the museum, paving the way for the $13 million rehabilitation project to begin.
But while construction is now under way, the museum is still looking for funds to pay for staffing and exhibitions. The contribution from Thoits Bros. comes as the organization is undertaking a $3 million campaign to pay for staffing.
The Thoits family has its own strong ties to local history, which date back to 1893, when Edward and Elizabeth Thoits came to Palo Alto from Maine to enroll their children in the newly built Stanford University, according to the Palo Alto Historical Association. Edward opened the Palo Alto Shoe Store on University Avenue and High Street and his children, E.C. and Willis, worked at the shoe store before getting into the real estate business.
E.C. Thoits also served in the Palo Alto Volunteer Fire Department. In his 40 years on the City Council, he helped draft Palo Alto’s city charter, which was adopted in 1909, and worked to establish the municipal utilities.
“This exciting and meaningful commitment by the Thoits family, one of Palo Alto’s early founding families, demonstrates the importance of relating how the efforts of entrepreneurs, businesspeople, community leaders, social innovators, environmentalists, and others who came before us are integral to both understanding the present and inspiring the future,” Rich Green, board president at Palo Alto Museum said in a statement. “We applaud the Thoits family for their leadership in this generous donation.”
Liz Coolidge, chair of the board of directors at Thoits Bros., noted in a statement that the family has “deep roots in Palo Alto, going back seven generations.”
“The Thoits family is honored to contribute to the development of the Museum, which will tell a broad story of Palo Alto, a place that is so important in their family history,” Coolidge said. “The Thoits family hopes that their gift of $1,000,000 to fund the position of Executive Director will inspire others to support the creation of this unique resource for Palo Alto.”
The museum is planning to complete the rehabilitation of the Roth Building by the end of this year and open to the public in spring 2025, according to Green.