for redesigns of the site. The Japanese architectural studio SANAA won, but its plans were abandoned after site investigations revealed the archaeological remains of a colonial dockyard beneath the museum's car park. Another competition was held in 2000; it was won by Sauerbruch Hutton. Their proposal, which called for demolishing the MSB building, met public outcry, and these plans too were abandoned. 1999–2010: Macgregor hiring In 1999, with the MCA facing the prospect of bankruptcy, having just enough money to make payroll for a few weeks, the board hired Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, a Scot who had worked with the Arts Council of Great Britain, as director. She nearly quit within 48 hours of taking the job when the board wanted to hire a co-director so she could focus on the artistic vision behind the museum. Macgregor had previously held the same post at the Ikon Gallery, a major contemporary art museum also housed in a repurposed heritage-listed building in Birmingham. Shortly after taking over, to encourage more visitation, she eliminated the $12 entrance fee, after securing a half-million-dollar sponsorship from Telstra. Initially, Macgregor was apprehensive, sleeping poorly for a week out of fear no one would come to see the museum even if it cost them nothing to do so. When the museum opened for the 12th Biennale of Sydney in 2000, a festival headlined by Yoko Ono, "we were packed", Macgregor recalled. "As soon as we did that, it completely changed the atmosphere. People came in out of curiosity", she later told The New York Times (A fee is still charged for admission to temporary special exhibitions). Within a year, visitation increased threefold. Per her belief that contemporary art should be for everyone, especially the many people who believe it is only for the wealthy cultural elite, Macgregor began reaching out to the communities of Greater Western Sydney. After the museum sponsored a free shuttle bus from a Blacktown festival to the museum, the mayor told her that he had much appreciated the museum and begun to rethink his position on contemporary art. The museum also partnered with the Penrith Panthers rugby team. "They were looking to change their image as much as we were looking to change ours," Macgregor said. Macgregor also began requiring that curators consult with less artistically inclined peers about the text in wall labels identifying and describing the adjacent works. "Sometimes it's an IT