The purchase of the Plast House in Tremont in 1977 was an important event in the history of the Ukrainian Museum-Archives. The scouting organization moved to a new location in Parma (its holdings transferred in 1983), which allowed the building to be used exclusively for storing, organizing and displaying its archival collection. Though the museum was founded in 1952 by Leonid Bachynsky, its materials were first held in a defunct coal bin at the St. Volodymyr Orthodox Church in Parma. Then because of Bachynsky’s ties to Plast, the archives were transferred slowly to the attic and basement of the building in Tremont. In 1959, the UMA in Cleveland was officially registered by the state of Ohio as the “Ukrainian Museum-Archives” and in 1966 was granted tax-exempt status. That same year the UMA inaugurated membership dues, which provide a steady flow of income.

The year 1977 was a time of transition for the museum. Bachynsky resigned as director at the age of 81, moving to Denver, Colorado, and the UMA became the formal owner of the property on Kenilworth Avenue. That year, the UMA also launched a fund-raising campaign to help support maintenance and repairs. The new director Oleksander Fedynsky was another passionate collector of Ukrainian books and other printed material and kept the UMA focused on preserving the treasures of the past, so that someday the institution could share with an independent Ukraine this rich collection compiled by émigrés.