Much like the immigrants whose story it aims to tell, the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is moving up in the world.

Having spent decades in cramped quarters the size of a three-bedroom apartment - and overshadowed by New York's famous Museum Mile - the MOCA has just completed a much needed, and long-awaited expansion. It will open the doors to its new location tomorrow, allowing the museum to broaden its presence in showcasing the Chinese community in America.

Artifacts and pictures, including Bruce Lee (top), are displayed at the Museum of Chinese in America, which opens tomorrow. [China Daily]

"The history of Chinese in America is very rich. Most Chinese in Hong Kong or Taiwan or the Chinese mainland do not know that much about the history of the Chinese in America. Most Chinese in the US don't know that much either," says Alice Mong, director of the museum. "I want (the museum) to become a major destination in the US."

Originally situated in a Manhattan Chinatown building and occupying a mere 2,000 square feet, the museum will now have 14,000 square feet in the heart of the neighborhood. With seven times more space, the 30-year-old museum will now be able to expand its collections, take in more visitors, and boost its preservation and display of the history and culture of Chinese Americans.

The museum started as a project of two young men, Jack Tchen and Charlie Lai, who went around Chinatown collecting items and stories from everyday residents to keep an archive of the story of the neighborhood.

The current expansion project came with a price tag of US$15 million, and the organization has already raised $12 million of that cost. The bulk of the seed money for the project came from the Sept 11 Fund, an acknowledgement of the damage Chinatown suffered in the attacks.

The terrorist attacks of "Sept 11 hit Chinatown hard, and we're still suffering in a lot of ways", Mong says. "We're hoping to use the museum to help with Chinatown's rebirth."

Other lead sponsors for the capital expansion include the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the New York City Council and the offices of the New York City mayor and borough council president.

Although the size of the museum is expanding, the staff member remains low, only increasing from eight to nine. Expanding the museum into a national presence requires an expansion of the membership base, which stands at 300. Mong hopes to attract 1,000 members by the end of the year.

MOCA's new space is designed by artist Maya Lin, who became famous for designing the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, as a 21-year-old undergraduate.