The originally planned building was to be an ambitious state-of-the-art center for displaying information about the environment and society of Belize, including an exhibit of Mayan archaeology.

[2] The Catalan-born Joan Duran raised the question of building a national museum in Belmopan with the minister of education a week after Belize gained independence in 1981.

He was encouraged by the People's United Party government to develop the concept with Mexican and Cuban colleagues.

[3] During the administration of the United Democratic Party from 1984 to 1989 the task of planning for a national museum and botanical garden was given to a British consulting firm.

[3] The museum would have two main exhibit spaces on the ground floor, called "lungs", one about society and the other about the environment.

Under the dome it would hold the most traditional exhibit, the Ancient Maya Gallery, planned by specialists from the Royal Ontario Museum.

A group of 24 vases salvaged in 1973 from the Hokeb Ha cave in Toledo, southern Belize, was the most interesting part of the collection.

[8] A 1997 guide said that the Archaeology Vault in Belmopan, which had been open for visitors to see a large collection of Mayan artifacts, had been closed for lack of funding.

The guide noted rumors that some of the valuable artifacts might have been sold abroad, and their absence from the collection would be embarrassing.