 After a search that had taken several years, Wheeler was able to secure a premises for the Institute of Archaeology: St. John's Lodge in Regent's Park, central London. Left empty since its use as a hospital during the First World War, the building was owned by the Crown and was controlled by the First Commissioner of Works, William Ormsby-Gore; he was very sympathetic to archaeology, and leased the building to the Institute at a low rent. The St. John's Lodge premises were officially opened on 29 April 1937. During his speech at the ceremony, the University of London's Vice-Chancellor Charles Reed Peers made it clear that the building was only intended as a temporary home for the Institute, which it was hoped would be able to move to Bloomsbury, the city's academic hub. In his speech, the university's Chancellor, Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, compared the new institution to both the Institute of Historical Research and the Courtauld Institute of Art.
