diff --git a/app/models/item.rb b/app/models/item.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b8a69cd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/item.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+class Item
+  # Not defining validations, since this app is currently read-only
+end
diff --git a/db/migrate/20100514224031_create_items.rb b/db/migrate/20100514224031_create_items.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..26c5bb39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20100514224031_create_items.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+class CreateItems < ActiveRecord::Migration
+  def self.up
+    create_table :items do |t|
+      t.string :name
+      t.string :species_support_ids
+
+      t.timestamps
+    end
+  end
+
+  def self.down
+    drop_table :items
+  end
+end