Call said it was freeing to not have to find a buyer when he was through with his creation. "A lot of the time you make art and then have to deal with it after the fact. This time, they're dealing with it for us — destroying it for us," he said.

It took three months for the artists to fill the building with their creations before it was opened to the public. Some artists took inspiration for their contributions from the project's ephemeral nature.

On his space on the upper-floor, a team of artists removed sections of the roof, allowing sunlight to shine on the grass and wildflowers he planted as part of their installation.

"I think the fact that the building was going to be destroyed gave (the artists) a lot of freedom," Price said.

For six days in May 2007, the Prices and a small band of volunteers manned the building as more than 10,000 visitors strolled through it. Some visitors expressed to Price that they wished it would stay open longer. Others were shocked there were no admission fees, and many wanted to give donations as they couldn't believe they could see something so impressive for free, he said.

"It evoked very strong emotions for the people," Price said.

In keeping with the goals of the project, however, Price made sure that it remained a commercial-free, temporary project, one that was meant to "divorce the art from motives of monetary gain." That separation really changed how people saw it and, in Price's opinion, it was good for the community. "It influenced how people perceived the whole project," he said.

The building was originally slated for demolition at the end of the open house last June, but the Prices decided to wait until they had a financially feasible design for the new building before they let the old one fall.

Not everyone was happy the building was being destroyed, though. Price heard from several people who were angry he was tearing it down, and one person even threatened to involve the mayor in halting the building's demolition, Price said.

But that furor was just evidence of the project's impact, he said.

"(That reaction) is a wonderful outcome. It means we've managed to connect with some dormant desire to see visual art. That doesn't happen very often."

As for the Prices' original real estate venture, a seven-story condominium complex will be built on the space by sometime next year.

In keeping with the 337 Project, the condos will be unconventional in that they will be built with recycled steel shipping containers. Just as the 337 Project was an office building repurposed as art, City Center Lofts, the name of the complex, will consist of shipping containers repurposed as living spaces.