By early next year, the shuttered Sears at the Moreno Valley Mall could be transformed into an immersive museum.

The Moreno Valley City Council has showed unanimous support in creating and maintaining a museum at the 76,000-square-foot Sears building, closed since 2020 and located at 22550 Town Circle. The council approved a contract earlier this year with Lighthouse Immersive Studios California Inc. to create the museum, which will then become a city facility.

“This museum represents a historic and exciting new chapter for Moreno Valley,” Mayor Ulises Cabrera said on Friday. “As our city’s first-ever museum, it will bring immersive, world-class experiences directly to our residents and serve as a new destination for visitors from across the region.”

The museum will have two large, digital and immersive galleries, one traditional museum gallery, a café and a retail space, according to Cabrera.

Beyond the entertainment it will provide, the museum will create local jobs and a platform for local artists to showcase their work in their hometown, he added.

The initial cost of the project is estimated at nearly $10 million, according to the city. It will cost Moreno Valley about $1.5 million a year to operate the museum.

There’s no firm construction timeline, according to city spokesperson Marc Lyncheski, but in January city officials said they hoped to open the museum in early 2026.

Cabrera said he hopes to expand partnerships with educational institutions and philanthropic organizations “to ensure the museum grows as a center of learning, creativity, and opportunity.”

Previously, the City Council approved a plan to overhaul the embattled Moreno Valley Mall, which often has nearly empty parking lots, to a site that adds apartments, hotels, office space and a retail center.