In 1991, the Basque government proposed to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation that it fund a Guggenheim museum to be built in Bilbao’s dilapidated port area, once the city’s main source of income. Appropriately, the museum became part of a larger redevelopment plan that was meant to renew and modernize the industrial town. Almost immediately after its opening in 1997, the Guggenheim Bilbao became a popular tourist attraction, drawing visitors from around the world.