Until the late 60s, the building housed the Municipal Public Market of the city. Its conversion into a museum had been discussed already since 1962, a vision whose implementation started only in 1995, when the edifice was granted to the Ministry of Culture after an unanimous decision of the City Council. The Ministry of Culture officially accepted the offer in 1996 with the signing of the relevant Ministerial Decision.

The restoration of the Old Municipal Market, funded by European Funds was completed in 2005. In the following years, the necessary museological studies for the organization of the permanent exhibition of the Prehistoric, Classical, Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Antiquities of Elis were implemented and applied also with the support of funds from the European Union. Today's admittedly impressive result is a product of cooperation of several scientists and competent services of the Ministry of Culture.